UNDeR-A-CO' 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF 
THE  UNIVERSI 
OF  CALIFORN 

LOS  angele; 


)ipc6ujcnin^R€iDS 


THE    OLD    HOUSE 


UNDER  A  COLONIAL 
ROOF-TREE 


FIRESIDE   CHRONICLES   OF   EARLY 
NEW   ENGLAND 

BY 

ARRIA  S.  HUNTI^^GTON 


The  great  eventful  Present  hides  the  Past ;  but  through  the  din 
Of  its  loud  life  hints  and  echoes  from  the  life  behind  steal  in ; 
And  the  lore  of  home  and  fireside,  and  the  legendary  rhyme, 
Make  the  task  of  duty  lighter  which  the  true  man  owes  his  time 

J.  G.  Whittier 


SYRACUSE 
WOLCOTT'S   BOOKSHOP 

1905 


Copyright,  1891, 
By  ARRIA  S.  HUNTINGTON. 

All  rights  reserved- 


The  Riverside  Prexs,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 
Printed  by  H.  O   Houghton  &  Company. 


CONTENTS  AND  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

The  Old  House Frontispiece 

OUR  ANCESTRY   OF  FREEMEN 1 

The  Entrance  to  the  Woods      . 16 

The  Spire  of  Hatfield  Church 24 

A   DIARY  OF  LONG   AGO 25 

The  House,  from  the  Garden 52 

Flreplace  in  the  Long  Room 98 

LATER  LIFE  IN  THE  OLD  MANSION 101 

The  Family  Burial-Place 116 

APPENDIX 125 


2040 


032 


UNDER  A  COLONIAL  ROOF-TREE. 


OUR  ANCESTRY  OF  FREEMEN. 

There  has  been  no  nation  but,  in  the  beginning  of  its  history, 
there  was  the  consciousness  of  a  relation  to  a  world  which  it  did  not 
conquer  with  its  swords,  and  whose  fruits  it  did  not  gather  in  its 
barns  nor  exchange  in  its  markets.  —  Mulford. 

In  tlie  spring  of  1630,  the  Wintlirop  fleet,  de- 
parting from  Plymouth,  England,  turned  its  course 
westward  in  the  direction  of  the  New  World. 
Reaching  the  cpast  of  the  unexplored  continent,  the 
first  to  arrive  in  Massachusetts  Bay  was  the  large 
ship  Mary  and  John,  freighted  with  one  hundred 
and  forty  passengers,  "  godly  families  and  people," 
under  the  lead  of  their  two  ministers. 

These  colonists  were  men  and  women  respectable 
in  condition  and  lineage,  possessed  of  fortitude,  and 
moved  by  high  moral  purpose  and  strong  religious 
devotion.  Of  their  ten  weeks  on  the  ocean  one  of 
the  number  wrote  :  "  So  we  came  by  the  good  hand 
of  the  Lord  through  the  deeps  comfortably,  having 
Preaching  and  expounding  of  the  Word  of  God 
every  day." 

At  the  end  of  May  they  found  themselves  near 


2  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

the  shore;  but  instead  of  anchoring  in  Charles 
Kiver  as  was  intended,  the  captain  disembarked  the 
whole  company  in  a  wild  spot  at  Nantasket,  where 
they  were  left  to  shift  for  themselves.  A  week  later, 
a  day  of  rest  and  thanksgiving  celebrated  their  set- 
tlement at  Dorchester,  in  which  place  permanent 
dwellings  were  erected  during  the  summer  months. 

A  winter  of  severe  privation  followed.  Their  his- 
torian says  :  "  They  suffered  Hunger  and  saw  no 
hope  in  an  Eye  of  Reason  to  be  supplyed,  only  by 
Clams  and  Muscles  and  Fish.  It  was  not  accounted 
a  strange  thing  in  those  Days  to  drink  Water  and 
to  eat  Samp  or  Homiuie  without  Butter  and  Milk." 

It  is  related  that  "  a  good  man,  who  had  asked 
liis  neighbor  to  a  dish  of  clams,  after  dinner  re- 
turned thanks  to  God,  who  had  given  them  to  suck 
of  the  abundance  of  the  seas  and  of  treasure  hid  in 
the  sands." 

Even  groundnuts  and  acorns  were  articles  of  food, 
and  the  Indians  Avho  brought  their  own  stores  of 
corn  were  welcomed  as  benefactors. 

Yet  the  minds  of  these  high-spirited  adventurers 
were  not  occupied  alone  with  material  necessities  or 
daunted  by  discomforts.  Their  deepest  concern  was 
for  security  in  political  and  religious  privileges. 
With  their  Anglo-Saxon  birthright  of  liberty  came 
a  conviction  of  their  right  to  self-government.  The 
belief  of  the  Puritans  in  individual  responsibihty  to 
divine  law  was  intense.  To  them,  the  sacredness  of 
personality  was  embodied  in  the  citizens,  or  "  free- 


OUR  ANCESTRY  OF  FREEMEN.  6 

men."  Their  town  and  church  had  been  organized 
on  the  20th  of  March  in  Plymouth,  before  the  em- 
barkation. Local  self-government  was  thus  estab- 
lished and  maintained  from  the  first.  In  defense  of 
it  they  demanded  democratic  representation  in  the 
Colonial  Assembly.  A  majority  under  John  Cot- 
ton favored  restricting  votes  and  offices  to  church 
members.  Three  churches,  those  of  Dorchester, 
Newtown,  and  Watertown,  opposed  this  "  most  ex- 
traordinary order  or  law,"  as  it  was  afterwards 
characterized  by  Hutchinson,  who  adds  that  "  such 
were  the  requisites  for  church  membership  that  the 
grievances  were  abundantly  greater."  Their  request 
was  for  representation  by  the  towns.  When  Win- 
throp  maintained  "  the  best  part  is  always  the  least," 
Rev.  Mr.  Hooker  argued  that  "  a  general  council 
chosen  by  all  is  most  suitable  to  transact  matters 
which  concern  the  common  good."  Mr.  Warham 
and  his  Dorchester  flock  held  to  this  principle.  Posi- 
tive in  their  convictions,  resolute  in  determination, 
our  forefathers  were  not  made  of  the  stuff  which 
yields  lightly  when  liberty  is  at  stake.  They  looked 
forth  again  into  the  wilderness  for  an  opportunity  to 
found  a  community  under  their  own  charter. 

From  far  away,  a  hundred  miles  westward,  traders 
and  adventurers  brought  reports  of  an  open  and  fer- 
tile valley,  forests  abounding  in  valuable  furs,  and  a 
broad  and  navigable  river  giving  direct  communi- 
cation with  the  sea.  At  its  mouth  Lord  Saye  and 
Sele  had  secured  land  patents.     Above,   at  Matta- 


4  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

neaug,  an  outpost  was  established.  Towards  this 
point  on  Fresh  River,  now  known  as  the  Connecticut, 
an  exploring  party  proceeded  in  1635.  It  was  in 
the  autumn,  and  a  journey  through  unbroken  wood- 
land, over  hills  and  across  streams,  proved  uncom- 
monly arduous.  The  weather  was  severe,  and  the 
river  frozen  over  in  November.  The  men  returned 
after  much  suffering.  Nevertheless  their  report 
was  so  far  satisfactory  that  in  the  following  year 
the  whole  of  Rev.  Mr.  AVarham's  church  removed 
thither  with  theii'  pastor.  Under  his  lead  they  made 
a  settlement  at  what  is  now  known  as  Windsor, 
Connecticut.  Already  Pynchon,  with  a  colony  from 
Roxbury,  had  become  established  higher  up  the 
river,  at  Agawam.  A  large  company  came  from 
Cambridge,  then  called  Newtown,  with  their  minis- 
ter, Mr.  Hooker.  Hartford  and  Wethersfield  formed 
part  of  this  active  and  hopef  id  community,  and  in 
1636  a  General  Court  was  instituted.  At  that  gath- 
ering Mr.  Hooker  maintained  that  "  the  foundation 
of  authority  is  laid  in  the  free  consent  of  the 
people." 

The  Constitution  then  adopted  by  the  freemen  of 
the  three  towns  was  the  "  first  known  to  history 
that  created  a  government,  and  it  marked  the  be- 
ginnings of  American  democracy."  Its  federation 
of  independent  towns,  its  extended  suffrage,  the  dif- 
ferent form  of  representation  in  the  Assembly  and 
the  upper  House,  all  formed  a  republican  govern- 
ment similar  to  that  adopted  later  by  the  United 
States. 


OUR   ANCESTRY    OF    FREEMEN.  5 

To  sucli  brave  men  as  those  who  embarked  in  the 
Mary  and  John,  who  founded  the  Dorchester  town- 
ship and  established  the  State  of  Connecticut,  we 
owe  the  grand  ideas  of  the  nation  as  the  realization 
of  freedom,  the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  and  the 
sacredness  of  then*  rights.  Self-taxation,  trial  by 
jm-y,  and  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  repre- 
sented to  them  the  institution  and  preservation  of 
personal  liberty. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  passed  away,  and  great 
events  had  taken  place  across  the  sea.  The  Kino- 
of  England  had  ruled  without  a  Parliament,  and 
Parliament  had  ruled  without  a  kino-.  The  reio-n  of 
Charles  I.  and  the  Protectorate  of  Cromwell  were 
alike  over.  Both  men  were  in  their  graves  and 
another  Stuart  was  restored  to  the  throne. 

The  young  and  vigorous  life  of  the  new  country 
felt  but  hghtly  the  strain  of  changes  which  had  so 
profound  an  effect  in  the  Old  World.  The  tide  of 
colonization  had  been  checked  with  the  ascendency 
of  the  Puritans  during  the  Commonwealth.  The 
settlers  occupied  themselves  in  strengthening  their 
local  government,  forming  a  federated  league,  unit- 
ing in  defense  against  the  Indians,  clearing  and 
improving  their  lands. 

Religious  affairs  were  a  matter  of  deep  concern. 
At  a  council  in  Boston  in  1660,  dissension  arose  on 
the  subject  of  baptism,  and  other  questions  involved 
in  what  was  known  as  "  The  Half-way  Covenant." 
The  majority  advocated  admitting  the  children  of 


6  UNDEK    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

professing  Christians  not  in  full  communion  with 
any  one  particular  church.  In  the  Hartford  colony 
serious  division  occurred.  Rev.  John  Russell  and 
many  of  his  flock  believed  that  the  Congregational 
policy  was  seriously  threatened.  The  result  was, 
that  again  a  pastor  and  people  sought  a  new  home, 
and  in  that  same  year  laid  out  the  town  of  Hadley, 
across  the  Massachusetts  line.  About  twenty  miles 
above  Pynchon's  settlement  they  found  a  wide  val- 
ley of  unusual  lovehness,  with  great  advantages  of 
soil  and  surroundings. 

A  mountain  chain  rises  here  abruptly  from  the 
meadow-land,  closing  in  the  rich  intervale.  The 
Connecticut,  in  its  southward  course,  before  entering 
the  narrow  opening  between  opposite  peaks,  takes 
a  sweep  through  a  broad  basin,  which,  long  before 
the  memory  of  man,  was  washed  by  alluvial  depos- 
its. Natural  terraces  rise  from  the  banks  to  wooded 
highlands  east  and  west.  Even  when  encircled  by 
primeval  forest,  this  open  valley  must  have  had  its 
own  charm  for  those  who  recalled  the  peaceful 
scenery  of  Old  England.  Native  elms  stood  here 
and  there  in  the  green  meadows,  groups  of  walnut 
trees  followed  the  brooks.  The  silver  stream,  its 
gentle  current  unbroken  by  rocks  or  rapids,  was 
bordered  by  sparkling  sands  and  rich  verdure. 

In  such  surroundings  the  new  town  was  begun. 
Its  generous  plan  may  have  been  in  remembrance 
of  the  good  old  times  when  every  English  village 
had  its  common,  before  the  inclosures  of  later  years 


OUR   ANCESTRY    OF    FREEMEN.  7 

had  robbed  the  poor  man  of  his  birthright.  The 
founders  of  Old  Hadley  laid  out  its  broad  street 
sixteen  rods  wide,  leaving  in  the  centre  a  strip  of 
grass  where  village  cows  and  geese  could  roam.  It 
stretched  from  bank  to  bank  of  the  great  river 
curve,  five  miles  in  length,  which  incloses  the 
meadow-land.  English  elms,  patriarchs  to-day,  were 
planted  in  a  double  row  along  the  highways  border- 
mg  the  green,  and  bestowed  upon  the  village  a 
wealth  of  shade  which  has  made  it  the  pride  of  the 
country-side.  Spacious  houses  were  erected  on  the 
street ;  pasture  land  for  common  use  inclosed  on 
the  edge  of  the  wilderness ;  a  meeting-house  was 
erected,  and  the  government  of  the  town  estab- 
lished, in  the  free  and  independent  form  already 
dear  to  the  colonist. 

The  river,  navigable  at  the  time  for  good-sized 
boats,  formed  a  means  of  communication  with  the 
towns  below. 

Fertile  fields,  abundant  forests  and  streams,  fur- 
nished support  to  a  hard-working  and  frugal  popu- 
lation. Openings  for  trade  were  developed.  Had 
it  not  been  for  the  Indian  atrocities  which  struck 
terror  to  all  unprotected  villages,  peace  and  pros- 
perity would  have  prevailed. 

King  Philip's  War  burst  upon  New  England 
with  fire  and  sword.  The  towns  planted  along  the 
Connecticut  suffered  most. 

In  connection  with  one  of  these  attacks,  that 
picturesque  event  occurred  which  has  made  Hadley 


8  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

memorable.     Tradition  tells  that  one  of  those  fasts, 
common  at  that  period  in  any  time  of  public  peril, 
had  called  together  all  the  inhabitants  in  the  meet- 
ing-house.    This    building  stood  in  the  middle  of 
the    green.     While  all  were  engaged  in  prayer,  a 
band  of  Indians  stealthily  approached  the  place,  and 
discovered  how  favorable  was  the  opportunity  for  an 
attack.     Not  a  breath    of    suspicion    disturbed   the 
devout  congregation  within.     But  one  eye,  alert  and 
trained  in  mihtary  service,  detected  the  advance  of 
the  savages.      An  alarm  was  sounded,  and  as  the 
men    rushed   in    confusion    from    the    church   they 
found  at  their  head,   in   command,   a  stranger,  "a 
grave,  elderly  person,  in  his  mien  and  dress  differ- 
ent from  the  rest  of  the  people.     He  not  only  en- 
couraged them  to  defend  themselves,  but  put  him- 
self at  their  head,  raUied,  instructed,  and  led  them 
to  encounter  the  enemy,   who   by  this  means   were 
repulsed."      Suddenly    as    he    had    appeared    the 
stranger  vanished.     In  the  hurry  and  confusion,  the 
brief  alarm  and  sudden  relief,  only  one  explanation 
could  be  found  for  the   apparition.     As  "  the  Angel 
of  Hadley  "  he  was  long  referred  to.     It  was  many 
years  later  that  the  fact  for  the  first  time  became 
known  that,  in  the  house  of  old  Parson  Russell,  two 
of  the  judges   of  Charles   I.    had    been    concealed. 
There    seems    little    doubt   that    it   was    Goffe,   the 
younger  of  the  two,  who  saved  the  village  on  this 
occasion.     To  the  brave  old  minister  who  risked  so 
much  to  afford  them  shelter,  there  must  have  seemed 


OUR   ANCESTRY    OF    FREEMEN".  9 

after  this  event  a  special  significance  in  the  admo- 
nition, "  Be  not  forgetful  to  entertain  strangers,  for 
thereby  some  have  entertained  angels  unawares." 
Goffe  and  Whalley  left  England  before  Charles  II. 
was  proclaimed  king,  but  heard  of  his  restoration 
when  they  arrived  at  Boston.  A  pardon  was  at 
first  expected,  and  they  were  honorably  received  by 
Governor  Endicott.  Whalley  was  a  cousin  of  Crom- 
well, and  one  of  his  heutenant-generals.  Goffe,  who 
married  his  daughter,  was  a  major-general.  Both 
men  were  distinguished  for  firmness,  courage,  and 
religious  devotion. 

When  it  appeared  that  their  names  were  not  in- 
cluded in  the  act  of  indemnity,  it  was  no  longer  safe 
for  them  to  remain  at  large  in  the  colonies.  War- 
rants were  issued,  and  two  young  and  zealous  royal- 
ists undertook  to  aj)prehend  them.  A  thorough 
search  was  made  along  the  western  frontier,  and 
while  they  were  under  Parson  Russell's  roof  inquiry 
was  made  there  for  them.  There  is  some  susjDicion 
that  in  this  case  their  pursuers  were  not  eager  to 
find  them,  for  tradition  has  it  "  that  they  sought  as 
those  who  sought  not." 

Their  first  refuge  with  Parson  Davenport,  of  New 
Haven,  soon  became  known,  and  threatened  danger 
to  him.  To  clear  him  of  further  question  the  regi- 
cides showed  themselves  publicly,  and  then  found 
concealment  in  a  cave  in  the  neighborhood.  Here 
some  Indians  came  upon  their  traces  and  they  were 
again  in  peril.     Rev.  John  Russell,  probably  through 


10  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

his  friend  Mr.  Davenport,  had  already  offered  them 
a  hiding-place,  and  his  home,  at  a  hundred  miles' 
distance,  was  comparatively  remote.  Thither  they 
made  their  way,  traveling  by  night,  and  arriving 
October  13,  1664.  This  was  only  two  years  after 
the  town  was  settled,  and  they  remained  there  cer- 
tainly till  1679.  The  last  record  of  Gotf e  is  a  letter 
written  on  April  2d,  and  dated  "Ebenezer,"  the 
name  which  he  always  gave  to  his  place  of  refuge. 
Governor  Hutchinson,  in  his  "  History  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay,"  mentions  that  Dixwell  also,  another  of 
the  judges  who  took  refuge  in  the  colonies,  was  for 
a  short  time  concealed  at  the  parsonage. 

Hutchinson  had  in  his  possession  Goffe's  diary, 
kept  while  at  Hadley,  which  recorded  every  little 
event  which  occurred  in  the  church  and  among  the 
villaofe  families.  This  document  would  be  now  of 
great  value,  but  it  was  burned  at  the  time  the  gov- 
ernor's library  was  destroyed  by  a  mob.  A  letter 
written  to  Goffe  from  England,  by  his  vnie,  is  de- 
scribed by  Palfrey  as  "  tender,  magnanimous,  and 
devout,  scarce  to  be  read  without  tears." 

It  is  supposed  that  Whalley  died  while  at  the  par- 
sonage, and  was  interred  in  the  cellar.  As  late  as 
the  end  of  the  next  century,  Dr.  D wight  mentions 
that  he  had  talked  with  a  man  who  discovered  there 
human  remains  w^liile  removing  a  wall.  The  cham- 
ber in  which  the  refugees  lived  so  long  had  secret 
access  above  and  below,  so  that  escape  might  be 
made  either  way.     The  frame  of  the  building,  now 


OUR    ANCESTRY    OF    FREEMEN.  11 

converted  into  a  tavern,  is  still  pointed  out  on  the 
broad  village  street. 

It  was  in  September,  1679,  that  the  rescue  at 
Hadley  took  place.  The  first  written  account  of  it 
is  found  in  a  foot-note  to  Hutchinson's  History.  He 
there  says  :  "  I  am  loath  to  omit  an  anecdote  handed 
down  through  Governor  Leverett's  family.  I  find 
Goffe  takes  notice  in  his  journal  of  Leverett's  being 
in  Hadley." 

The  romance  of  the  event  attracted  the  fancy  of 
Sir  Walter  Scott,  and  he  describes  it  at  length,  with 
many  details  manifestly  incorrect,  through  the  mouth 
of  Major  Bridgenorth,  in  "  Peveril  of  the  Peak." 
The  most  serious  mistake  is  that  in  which  he  makes 
Whalley  and  not  Goffe  the  hero  of  the  adventure. 
As  relatives  and  companions,  the  confusion  might 
easily  occur  ;  but  the  date  settles  the  matter,  as,  ac- 
cording to  Stiles's  "  History  of  the  Three  Judges," 
Whalley  was  superannuated  in  1675.  Scott  in  a 
note  refers  to  Cooper's  use  of  the  incident  in  "  The 
Wept  of  Wish-ton-Wish."  It  was  probably  many 
years  after  Parson  Russell's  death  that  his  share  in 
the  concealment  of  the  regicides  became  known. 
The  stanch  old  Puritan  was  buried  in  the  graveyard 
(then  new,  now  covered  with  moss-grown  slabs)  of 
the  town  which  he  had  assisted  to  lay  out.  Over  his 
resting  place  is  a  large  tablet,  formed  of  the  soft  red 
sandstone  of  the  district,  and  inscribed  in  the  rude 
style  of  those  times. 

Whether  the  secret  he  carried  so  long  was  ever 


12  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

committed  to  paper  by  him  is  not  known,  as  the 
village  records  were  afterwards  destroyed  in  the 
burning  of  the  parsonage.  The  story  of  Goffe's 
apparition,  however,  remains  as  an  unquestioned 
tradition  in  the  community.  A  descendant,  born  in 
the  house  with  which  these  chronicles  are  associated, 
remembers  hearing  it  in  his  youth  from  an  old  man 
who  had  held  the  legend  since  liis  own  boyhood,  and 
whose  grandfather  must  have  been  living  when  the 
mystery  was  first  revealed. 

In  this  same  homestead  the  story  was  in  all  prob- 
ability directly  transmitted  from  an  authentic  source, 
inasmuch  as  its  first  occupant  was  a  grand-daughter 
of  Parson  Russell's  third  wife,  Phoebe  Gregson.  She 
was  the  daughter  of  a  citizen  of  New  Haven,  active 
in  the  planting  of  the  colony,  and  interested  in  pro- 
moting its  prosperity  through  trade  with  England. 
For  that  object  he  took  passage  with  others  ap- 
pointed to  secure  royal  patents.  The  vessel  was 
never  again  heard  from,  but  tradition  runs  that  it 
was  seen  as  a  spectre  ship  in  New  Haven  harbor, 
after  a  prayer-meeting  held  in  behalf  of  the  crew. 

Phoebe  became  the  Avife  of  Rev.  John  Whitinof 
who  graduated  from  Harvard  College  in  1668.  His 
father,  Wilham  Whiting,  had  been  treasurer  of  the 
Hartford  colony,  and  there  his  son's  pastorate  was 
spent.  Phoebe  was  his  second  wife,  and  after  his 
death  became  the  third  wife  of  Parson  Russell, 
whom  she  survived  for  many  years.  She  removed  to 
her  early  home,  New  Haven,  to  the  house  of  her  son 


OUR  ANCESTRY  OF  FREEMEX.         13 

Joseph.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  associations 
with  HacUey  were  always  kept  up,  as  her  step- 
dauo-hter  married  a  son  of  Parson  Russell,  and  in 
the  next  century  her  grand-daughter  came  there  as 
a  bride.  This  Elizabeth  was  the  daughter  of  Eliza- 
beth Whiting,  whose  parents  were  Phoebe  and  the 
Reverend  John.  She  married  Nathaniel  Pitkin,  the 
son  of  William  Pitkin,  a  leading  man  in  the  Hart- 
ford colony  and  the  founder  of  the  family  in  this 
country.  In  the  genealogical  history  of  his  de- 
scendants, a  copy  is  given  of  a  letter,  still  preserved, 
which  was  written  to  him  from  England  in  1667.  It 
is  addressed  as  follows  :  — 

ffor 
William  Pitkin  at 

Hartford  Town  neare 
neare  Coneticut  river 
Leave  this  with  Mr.  Thomas 
Smyth  neare  the  Spring 
in  Boston 
in  New  England 

This  spring,  the  same  which  was  flowing  at  the 
time  the  new  post-of6.ce  was  built,  was  in  Spring 
Lane,  near  Governor  Winthrop's  house.  It  is  thus 
pleasantly  described  by  Drake.  He  speaks  of  "  the 
ancient  Spring-gate,  the  natural  fountain  at  which 
no  doubt  Madam  Winthrop  and  Anne  Hutchinson 
filled  their  flagons  for  domestic  use.  The  gentle- 
men may  have  paused  here  for  friendly  chat,  if  the 
rigor  of  the  governor's  opposition  to  the  schismatic 


14  UNDEK    A    COLONIAL    EOOF-TREE. 

Anne  did  not  forbid.  The  handmaid  of  Elder 
Thomas  Oliver,  Winthrop's  next  neighbor  on  the 
opposite  corner  of  the  Spring-gate,  fetched  her 
pitcher,  like  another  Rebecca,  from  this  well.  Grim 
Richard  Brackett,  the  jailer,  may  have  laid  down 
his  halberd  for  a  mornino;  drauoht." 

In  the  will  of  Nathaniel  Pitkin  this  quaint  pro- 
vision is  made :  "  And  whereas  there  is  in  my  pos- 
session one  great  brass  kettle,  one  two-eared  silver 
cup,  and  divers  other  things,  all  of  which  may  be 
found  entered  in  a  small  paper  book,  folio  2,  which 
said  goods  were  never  my  estate,  but  were  given  by 
my  honored  mother-in-law  Mrs.  Russell,  deceased,  to 
my  daughter  Ehzabeth  Pitkin,  which  said  goods  I 
desire  my  wife  to  take  into  her  care  in  trust  for  my 
said  daughter,"  etc. 

This  brass  kettle  must  have  o;one  with  his  dauofh- 
ter  to  her  new  home,  for  it  may  be  seen  to  this  day 
under  the  eaves  of  the  house  which  was  built  for 
her,  carefully  preserved  among  many  other  relics. 

Of  her  arrival  at  Hadley  as  a  bride,  a  story  is 
told  which  illustrates  customs  of  that  time.  Comino- 
from  Hartford,  the  young  couple  were  met  at  Moun- 
tain-gate, the  entrance  into  the  valley,  by  a  party  of 
welcome  from  the  village.  One  of  the  youths  by 
some  artifice  persuaded  her  to  mount  the  pillion  of 
his  horse,  and  then  leaping  on  before,  he  rode  off 
with  his  i)rize,  accomplishing  the  trick  of  "  stealing 
the  bride,"  much  to  the  confusion  of  the  lady  who 
was  thus  introduced  to  her  new  home. 


OUR    ANCESTRY    OF    FREEMEN.  15 

Her  husband,  who  is  described  as  of  a  "  mirthful 
but  devout  disposition,"  probably  entered  into  the 
spirit  of  this  rude  pleasantry.  He  was  the  great- 
grandson  of  one  of  the  founders  of  the  town,  which 
had  now  nearly  reached  its  first  century  of  exist- 
ence. John  Porter  was  a  Windsor  colonist,  and 
served  as  grand  juror  and  recorder.  His  son  Sam- 
uel, in  the  settlement  of  Hadley,  was  assigned  a 
valuable  lot  in  the  centre  of  the  villag-e.  He  is  men- 
tioned  in  the  record  of  the  General  Court  as  "  hav- 
ing been  assiduous  in  caring  for  wounded  persons 
during  the  Indian  wars,  giving  much  himself  for  the 
purpose." 

He  was  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  the  first  of  a  long 
line  in  the  town  of  the  same  family  who  held  that 
office  for  two  hundred  years.  This  is  an  honorable 
distinction  for  any  lineage  to  possess,  as  it  imjDlies 
faithfulness  to  the  interests  of  the  community  and 
the  confidence  of  the  public.  Humble  as  the  service 
may  seem,  it  has  been  said  of  it  that  "^  it  embodies 
perhaps  the  highest  conception  in  the  AngUcan  civil 
system.  It  rejjresents  the  peace  of  society  as  con- 
ditioned in  justice,  and  there  was  a  deep  significance 
in  the  formula  in  which  the  old  writs  ran,  '  in  the 
peace  of  God  and  the  Commonwealth.'  " 

The  second  Samuel  grew  up  to  be  an  extensive 
trader,  leaving  behind  him  "  the  immense  estate  of 
<£  10,000."  The  wedding  of  his  son  Aaron,  a  min- 
ister, is  described  by  Chief  Justice  Sewall  in  his 
diary. 


IG  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

The  early  Porter  residences  were  all  in  the  broad 
village  street.  But  when  young  Moses  looked  about 
for  a  place  to  establish  himself,  he  selected  a  spot 
two  miles  northward.  Up  to  this  date,  fear  of  the 
Indians  had  prevented  the  inhabitants  of  the  valley 
towns  from  building  outside  the  settlements.  Stock- 
ades for  defense  had  been  abandoned,  but  fields 
could  not  be  cleared  or  labor  done  with  safety. 
Attacks  of  the  Canadians  and  savag-es  were  made 
when  least  expected.  Between  the  Connecticut  and 
Lake  George  were  as  yet  no  habitations. 

By  the  year  1752,  security  seemed  to  be  as- 
sured. Two  miles  above  Hadley  meeting-house  lay 
a  common  pasturage,  fenced  across  at  the  north 
and  south,  with  gates  at  the  highway.  The  river 
formed  one  boundary,  and  on  the  east  a  deep  ditch 
was  dug  at  the  edge  of  the  clearing,  to  prevent  the 
cattle  from  straying  into  the  wilderness.  Traces  of 
this  trench  are  still  plainly  to  be  seen  back  of 
"  Pleasant  Hill." 

The  meadow  known  as  "Forty  Acres,"  but  in 
fact  considerably  larger  hi  extent,  became  open  to 
purchase,  with  the  rest  of  the  inclosure.  Such  a 
sheltered  intervale  offered  many  charms  for  a  per- 
manent dwelling-place. 

Through  chestnut  slopes  descending  from  Mt. 
Warner,  clear  streams  found  their  way  to  the  broad 
river,  navigable  for  various  kinds  of  craft  and 
abounding  in  fish.  Arable  land,  enriched  each  year 
by  the  spring  freshets,  rolled  in  smooth  undulations 


i;^ 


?^=U 


s^-===^ 


[- 


i'-i',      '     ^ 


THE    ENTRANCE    TO   THE    WOODS 


OUR    ANCESTRY    OF    FREEMEN.  17 

back  to  the  woodland.  Lofty  trees  stood  here  and 
there  among  the  verdure,  and  waving  willow  and 
maple  fringed  the  sloping  shore.  In  the  distance 
could  be  seen  the  bold  outlines  of  successive  ranges 
of  hills  towards  the  setting  sun,  and  the  misty  peaks 
of  the  Green  Mountains. 

In  such  surroundings  one  is  reminded  of  the 
lines :  — 

"  Peace  trills  in  the  songs  of  the  Yalleys, 
And  freedom  blows  from  the  hills." 

From  her  Hartford  home  to  so  secluded  a  spot 
must  have  been  a  change  to  Elizabeth  Pitkin. 
There  were  no  dwelHngs  between  there  and  the  vil- 
lage. The  nearest  houses  were  across  the  river  at 
Hatfield.  There,  in  the  century  before,  one  of  the 
most  unexpected  attacks  of  the  Indians  had  been 
made.  On  a  lovely  September  day,  while  the  men 
were  harvesting  corn  in  the  meadows,  a  band  of 
savages  attacked  the  houses  outside  the  stockade, 
and  carried  away  to  Canada  twenty-one  people, 
mostly  women  and  children.  Their  long  and  pain- 
ful march  through  the  chill  autumn  weather,  the 
vicissitudes  of  the  brave  scouts  who  followed  them 
through  bitter  frost  and  peril  of  starvation,  form 
a  thrilling  tale  of  adventure.  They  were  brought 
back  the  following  spring  with  rejoicing  through 
all  the  country,  a  party  going  towards  Albany  to 
meet  them. 

Two  children,  born  in  exile,  and  named  Captiv- 
ity and   Canada,  grew  up  to  womanhood,  and  their 


18  UNDER    A    COLOXIAL    HOOF-TREE. 

descendants  and  those  of  other  captives  are  still  liv- 
ino'  in  the  villajje. 

Althonghj  by  the  year  1765,  direct  depredations 
from  the  north  had  ceased  in  this  neighborhood, 
uneasiness  was  felt  along  the  frontier  at  the  dispo- 
sition of  the  French  to  encroach  on  the  territory  of 
the  British  Colonies.  To  defend  its  possessions,  the 
mother-country  sent  over  General  Braddock. 

In  the  campaign  that  he  inaugurated,  an  attack 
on  Crown  Point  was  one  of  the  four  lines  of  military 
strategy  contemplated.  For  this  enterprise  Massa- 
chusetts was  ready  with  her  volunteers,  and  4,500 
men  enlisted. 

Among  other  troops  sent  from  New  England, 
Israel  Putnam  was  private  in  a  Connecticut  regi- 
ment, and  John  Stark,  afterwards  the  hero  of  Ben- 
nington, accompanied  the  Green  Mountain  recruits. 

Parkman  thus  describes  the  men  who  went  forth 
to  encounter  the  discipHned  ranks  of  the  French 
regulars,  and  the  fierce  and  treacherous  warfare  of 
their  savage  allies  :  — 

"  These  soldiers  were  no  soldiers,  but  farmers  and 
farmers'  sons,  who  had  volunteered  for  the  summer 
campaign.  One  of  the  corps  had  a  blue  uniform 
faced  Avith  red.  The  rest  wore  their  daily  clothing. 
They  had  no  bayonets,  but  carried  hatchets  in  their 
belts  as  a  sort  of  substitute.  At  their  sides  were 
slung  powder-horns,  on  which,  in  the  leisure  of  the 
camp,  they  carved  quaint  devices  with  the  points  of 
their    jack-knives.     They   came   chiefly   from   plain 


OUR    ANCESTRY    OF    FREEMEN.  19 

New  England  homesteads,  —  rustic  abodes,  un- 
painted  and  dingy,  witli  long  well-sweeps,  capacious 
barns,  rough  fields  of  pumpkin  and  corn,  and  vast 
kitchen  chimneys,  above  which,  in  winter,  hung 
squashes  to  keep  them  from  frost,  and  guns  to 
keep    them    from   rust." 

Moses  Porter  received  a  commission  as  captain  of 
a  Hadley  company.  One  of  the  village  boys,  who 
saw  him  in  his  officer's  uniform,  was  so  impressed 
with  his  appearance  that  he  told  the  tale  in  after 
years  of  how  Captain  Porter  marched  away  to  the 
wars.  But  it  was  a  lonely  and  sorrowful  home 
which  was  left  behind.  In  letters  written  to  him  in 
camp,  his  wife  speaks  of  the  dark  face  of  some 
wandering  Indian  seen  occasionally  at  night  pressed 
against  the  window  pane.  Remembering  that  it 
was  against  these  wily  foes  that  her  husband  was 
fighting,  it  must  have  given  her  a  thrill  of  appre- 
hension. 

It  was  only  three  years  after  the  building  of  their 
house  that  Captain  Porter  was  called  away.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1755,  occurred  the  battle  at   Crown  Point. 

The  British  troops  were  under  the  command  of 
General  Johnson ;  their  adversaries  were  led  by 
Dieskau.  About  ei2:ht  o'clock  on  the  mornino;  of 
the  6th,  the  encounter  took  place.  Parkman  gives 
a  vivid  description  of  the  fatal  scene.  Speaking 
of  the  troops  under  Dieskau  he  says  :  — 

"  They  moved  rapidly  on  through  the  waste  of 
pines,  and  soon  entered  the  rugged  valley  that  led 


20  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

to  Johnson's  camp.  At  their  right  was  a  gorge, 
where,  shadowed  by  bushes,  gurgled  a  gloomy  brook  ; 
and  beyond  were  the  cliffs  that  buttressed  the  rocky 
heights,  seen  by  glimpses  between  their  boughs. 

On  the  left  rose  gradually  the  lower  slopes  of 
West  Mountain.  All  was  rock,  thicket,  and  forest. 
There  was  no  open  space  but  the  road  along  which 
the  Regulars  marched,  while  the  Canadians  and  In- 
dians pushed  their  way  through  the  woods  in  such 
order  as  the  broken  ground  would  permit. 

They  were  three  miles  from  the  lake  when  their 
scouts  brought  in  a  prisoner,  who  told  them  that  a 
column  of  EngHsh  troops  was  approaching.  Dies- 
kau's  preparations  were  quickly  made.  While  the 
Regulars  halted  on  the  road,  the  Canadians  and  In- 
dians moved  to  the  front,  where  most  of  them  hid 
in  the  forest  among  the  slojies  of  West  Mountain, 
and  the  rest  lay  close  among  the  thickets  on  the 
other  side. 

Thus,  when  the  English  advanced  to  attack  the 
Regulars  in  front,  they  Avould  find  themselves  caught 
in  a  double  ambush.  No  sight  or  sound  betrayed 
the  snare  ;  but  behind  every  bush  crouched  a  Cana- 
dian or  a  savage,  with  gun  cocked  and  ears  intent, 
listening  for  the  tramp  of  the  approaching  column. 

In  the  British  van  were  their  allies,  the  Mohawks. 
It  is  said  that  Dieskau's  Iroquois,  seeing  their  rela- 
,tions,  wished  to  warn  them  of  their  danger.  If  so, 
the  warning  came  too  late.  The  muskets  on  the 
left  blazed  out  a  deadly  fire,  and   the   men  fell   by 


OUR   ANCESTRY    OF    FREEMEN.  21 

scores.  In  the  words  of  Dieskau,  the  head  of  the 
column  '  was  doubled  up  like  a  pack  of  cards.' 

The  men  in  the  rear  pressed  forward  to  support 
their  comrades,  when  a  hot  fire  was  suddenly  opened 
on  them  from  the  forest  along  their  right  flank. 
Then  there  was  a  panic  ;  some  fled  outright,  and  the 
whole  column  recoiled.  The  van  now  became  the 
rear,  and  all  the  force  of  the  enemy  rushed  upon  it, 
shouting  and  screeching. 

There  was  a  moment  of  total  confusion,  but  a 
part  ralHed,  fighting  behind  trees  like  Indians,  and 
firing  and  falling  back  by  turns,  bravely  aided  by 
some  of  the  Mohawks  and  by  a  detachment  which 
Johnson  sent  to  their  aid.  '  And  a  very  handsome 
retreat  they  made,'  writes  Setli  Pomeroy,  of  North- 
ampton, '  and  so  continued  till  they  came  within 
about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  of  the  camp.' 

So  ended  the  fray  long  known  in  New  England 
fireside  story  as   ^  The  Bloody  Morning  Scout.'  " 

Among  those  who  fell,  tradition  says  by  the  hand 
of  an  Indian,  was  Moses  Porter. 

Six  days  later  the  news  reached  Hadley.  No 
relic  of  the  officer  but  his  sword  was  ever  returned. 
His  body  was  left  among  the  slain  ;  a  gravestone  in 
the  village  burying-ground  bears  the  date  of  his 
death.  When  the  mortal  remains  of  Elizabeth  Por- 
ter were  taken  from  the  home  where  she  had  lived  a 
widow  for  forty-three  years,  they  were  placed  in  a 
boat,  rowed  down  the  silent  river,  and  laid  beside 
that  stone.     The  shadow  of  her  early  grief  never 


22  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

left  li«r.  She  bore  always  a  saddened  aspect  and  a 
sorrowing  heart.  We  find  her  mother's  grave  be- 
tween the  ♦family  lot  and  the  tombstone  of  Parson 
Russell,  her  stepfather.  By  the  date  it  appears  that 
she,  also,  was  taken  soon  after  the  homestead  was 
built.  Orphaned  and  alone,  the  widow  was  left  with 
the  care  of  her  young  daughter  and  the  manage- 
ment of  a  large  estate. 

We  can  easily  form  a  picture  of  their  home.  The 
house,  although  enlarged  and  improved  at  various 
times  in  later  years,  Avas  originally  of  ample  size. 
Its  main  structure  bore  the  same  features  as  at  the 
present  day,  excepting  that  the  gambrel  roof  was 
added  in  the  next  century.  The  style  was  similar  to 
that  of  the  old  family  mansions  in  Hadley  Street. 
A  broad  hall,  with  an  open  stairway  leading  to  the 
floor  above,  divided  good-sized  rooms  on  either  hand, 
a  "  parlor  bedroom,"  and  the  "  Long  Room,"  only 
used  for  state  occasions.  Another  hall  at  a  right 
angle  led  to  the  little  door-yard  filled  with  lilacs  and 
syringas. 

This  south  entrance  had  its  flagged  walk,  and 
small  gate  opening  into  a  large  space  where  car- 
riages drove  up.  The  front  door,  with  its  big  brass 
knocker,  was  seldom  used  ;  the  grass  grew  close  up 
to  the  steps  of  the  white  porch.  In  a  wing  at  the 
rear  stood  a  huge  chminey,  occupying  space  enough 
for  a  small  room,  with  great  fireplace  and  ovens. 
Another  large  chimney  was  erected  when  the  present 
kitchen,  cheese-room,  etc.,  were  added. 


OUR    ANCESTRY    OF    FREEMEN.  23 

An  inclosed,  piazza,  with  seats  along-  th'^  sides, 
known  as  the  "  stoop,"  extended  along  the  whole 
western  lenoth  of  the  house.  In  han'sst  time  a 
long  table  was  set  there  for  the  reapers.  All  through 
the  summer  the  churning,  washing,  and  other  house- 
hold work  were  there  carried  on.  At  nightfall  it 
afforded  a  orateful  retreat  after  the  labors  of  the 
day. 

To  those  of  later  generations  it  has  been  a  favor- 
ite social  gathering-place  at  that  hour.  Then  the 
mist  deepens  in  the  quiet  meadows  as  the  crimson 
glow  fades  in  the  west.  In  the  village  across  the 
river,  the  slender  spire  stands  out  distinct  against 
the  sky.  Through  the  stillness  we  may  hear  the 
tread  of  horses'  hoofs  crossmg  the  bridge  by  the 
mill  a  mile  away.  The  clear  notes  of  the  thrush 
sound  from  the  trees  along  the  shore.  The  Whately 
hiUs  grow  dark  in  the  twilight,  the  first  star  ap- 
pears above  the  elm-trees.  On  a  Sunday  evening, 
or  a  prayer-meeting  night,  come  across  the  water  the 
harmonious  accents  of  a  church  bell. 

"  When  the  old  bell  spoke  to  us,  it  was  mostly 
on  grave  themes.  Its  voice  was  always  the  same, 
solemn,  tender,  peaceful,  and  to  me  inexpressibly 
sweet.  It  was  a  perpetual  monitor  speaking  to  our 
higher  nature.  How  many  times  I  have  sat  in  the 
old  stoop,  spell-bound  after  the  tolling  began,  until 
its  last  note  had  ceased.  I  used  often  to  get  my 
sermon  before  others  had  begun  to  listen.  I  had 
a  fancy  that  the  water  lent  a  liquid  softness  to  the 


24  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

tones  which  they  would  not  otherwise  have  had.  If 
I  was  harassed  and  vexed  with  cares,  it  bade  me  be 
calm  and  patient  j  to  jjassion  it  said  peace.  When 
in  melancholy  moods  its  song  was  one  of  hope.  If 
I  were  becoming  absorbed  in  a  mere  worldly  life,  a 
single  note,  lightly  heeded,  would  be  enough  to 
prove  its  emptiness  and  vanity." 

The  house  was  placed  some  rods  back  from  the 
highway  on  a  little  knoll.  An  orchard  and  garden 
were  laid  out  on  the  north,  and  shade-trees  planted 
in  front.  Between  the  great  barn,  wdth  its  various 
outbuildings,  and  the  dwelhng,  was  left  a  wide 
grassy  space  which  has  been  for  generations  shaded 
by  magnificent  elms.  Between  that  and  the  street 
a  large  sheep-yard  was  inclosed.  Green  meadows 
stretched  to  the  river,  and  pasture  and  woodland 
abounded  in  the  opposite  direction. 

It  was  such  an  estate,  sufficient  for  a  comfortable 
support,  yet  requiring  care  and  superintendence, 
which  was  left  to  the  widow  and  her  young 
daughter. 


e»i..;/34'.,a^i 


THE    SPIRE    OF   HATFIELD    CHURCH 


A  DIARY  OF  LONG  AGO. 

Old  events  have  modern  meanings  ;  only  that  survives 
Of  past  history  which  finds  kindred  in  all  hearts  and  lives. 

James  Russell  Lo\vell. 

Nothing  appeals  more  quickly  to  sentiment,  or 
awakens  a  deeper  spirit  of  reflection,  than  to  peruse 
the  actual  record  of  past  life  written  in  the  faded 
ink  of  bygone  years,  phrased  in  the  quaint  lan- 
guage of  an  earlier  time,  and  registered  with  the  un- 
consciousness of  a  private  journal.  Such  a  manu- 
script, written  in  a  close,  stiff  hand,  on  pages  yellow 
with  age  and  stitched  together  in  home-made  brown- 
paper  covers,  was  fomid  stored  away  under  the  gar- 
ret eaves  of  the  old  roof-tree.  Five  volumes  cover 
the  record  of  forty-nine  years,  from  girlhood  to  old 
age.  Beginning  at  sixteen,  Elizabeth  Porter  kept 
for  nearly  half  a  century  a  weekly  chronicle,  written 
on  Sunday  and  gi\ang  a  sketch  of  the  events  of  the 
preceding  week.  She  invariably  set  down  the  text 
of  the  sermon  she  had  heard,  sometimes  by  chapter 
and  verse,  in  later  years  copied  in  full  with  some 
short  account  of  the  discourse. 

The  first  date  is  October  16,  1763,  the  last  Apiil 
5,  1812.  Brief  as  are  the  weekly  entries,  they 
convey  very  perfectly  an  impression  of  life  in  the 


26  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

colonial  times,  during  the  Revolution,    and   in  the 
period  following. 

The  opening  pages,  penned  by  a  young  girl  just 
developing  into  womanhood,  give  a  pleasant  picture 
of  neighborly  life.  Although  the  home  was  in  a  sol- 
itary situation,  and  the  mother  a  saddened  Avidow, 
the  days  were  not  lacking  in  variety.  Kinsfolk  in 
the  village  seem  to  have  been  full  of  kindly  interest 
in  the  fatherless  child.  There  were  cousins  at  three 
houses,  —  the  squire's,  the  lawyer's,  and  the  parson's. 
These  households  are  constantly  mentioned.  The 
wife  of  lawyer  Porter  was  a  daughter  of  Jonathan 
Edwards.  This  and  other  connections  gave  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  best  society  of  those  days. 

The  mode  of  intercourse  seems  far  simpler  and 
more  unconstrained  than  at  the  present  time.  Ac- 
quaintances rode  from  town  to  town  and  stayed  for 
a  whole  day,  entering  into  the  homely  occupations 
of  the  family. 

April  22,  1767.  "  Came  here  Miss  Pen  and  Miss 
Polly  to  help  me  quilt  a  dark  brown  quilt." 

May  26.  "  We  received  a  visit  from  Mr.  Jewet  and 
his  son,  with  divers  others  that  Avaited  on  them." 

June  16.  "  For  the  afternoon,  Polly  and  Sally 
Wilhams  came  here,  and  we  all  went  strawberry- 
mg. 

Wednesday  she  again  went  for  strawberries. 
Thursday  she  watched  with  a  sick  man  in  the 
village. 

Wednesday,  July  26,  was   a  quilting.    Thursday 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG   AGO.  27 

a  huckleberrying.  The  next  week  another  quilting. 
Visitors  come  and  go,  among  them  "  Miss  Biah 
Chapin,  a  pretty  young  woman  from  Springfield." 
Friends  from  a  distance  come  and  "  tarry  "  for  a 
while.  Miss  Polly  is  often  mentioned.  Other 
names  are  characteristic  of  a  period  long  passed,  — 
Experience,  Dorcas,  Abigail,  Salome,  Tabitha,  Sub- 
mit, Jerusha,  Electy,  Thankful.  On  one  occasion 
we  find  the  suggestive  record,  "  Silence  went  home 
and  Patience  came." 

In  November  begin  the  singing  meetings,  at  that 
time  the  favorite  recreation  of  the  young  people  dur- 
ing the  winter.  In  a  community  where  neither 
cards  nor  dancing  were  ever  heard  of,  this  diversion 
was  very  popular. 

February  14,  1768,  comes  a  "  singing  lecture.  A 
great  many  strangers  attended  it  and  very  much  ap- 
plauded it.  After  meeting,  drank  tea  at  Esquire 
Porter's  with  a  large  number  of  ladies." 

Social  occasions  at  home  and  abroad  occur  with 
frequency  through  the  cold  weather.  Companies 
from  the  neighboring  towns  are  hospitably  received. 

Of  one  of  the  formal  tea-drinkings  a  grandson  has 
written  out  his  recollections  :  — 

"  One  might  infer  that  at  this  period,  when  the 
Puritan  element  still  prevailed  with  considerable 
rigor,  Thanksgiving  being  over,  there  would  not 
be  much  to  break  in  upon  the  monotony  of  the 
long  winter  months.  This,  however,  was  not  the 
case.     Winter  was  the  time  for  making  tea  parties 


28  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

ou  a  large  and  generous  scale.  They  were  not  like 
our  modern  receptions,  where  seats  are  supposed  to 
be  a  superfluity ;  or  like  our  sociables,  when  people 
are  invited  to  meet  together  and  pay  for  the  enter- 
tainment. The  old-fashioned  tea  party,  in  order  to 
aro  off  well,  must  not  number  less  than  ten  or  fifteen 
couples.  We  were  living'  two  miles  out,  so  some 
one  must  be  sent  the  day  before  to  give  the  invita- 
tions. Many  were  the  discussions  and  consultations 
in  respect  to  the  weather,  for  if  a  storm  should  inter- 
vene there  would  be  great  danger  of  failure.  What 
a  relief  it  Avould  have  been  if  in  those  days  we  could 
have  had  the  advantages  of  the  weather  bureau  ! 
Many  a  tempest  in  a  teapot,  as  well  as  on  the  sea, 
might  have  been  avoided,  if  our  grandmothers  had 
only  enjoyed  the  benefits  of  this  achievement  of 
modern  science.  They  had  Thomas's  Almanac,  to 
be  sure,  but  what  could  Thomas  do  as  a  weather 
prophet  in  the  face  of  the  weather  bureau  ?  His 
genius  Avould  certainly  have  paled  before  the  stern 
deductions  of  facts  and  figures.  But  the  men  were 
close  observers  of  the  weather,  and  when  they  re- 
ported the  heavens  favorable  it  generally  proved  so. 
Many  a  time  have  we  stood  in  the  old  ^  space '  front- 
ing the  road  and  listened  for  the  bells,  and  strained 
our  eyes,  in  the  duskiness  of  coming  evening,  to 
catch  sight  of  the  first  gay  '  cutter  '  with  its  comple- 
ment of  rosy  faces,  buffalo  robes,  hoods,  caps,  etc. 
And  how  our  pride  was  touched  if  the  guests  came 
slowly,  and  there  was  fear  lest  all  the  hitching-posts 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG   AGO.  29 

would  not  be  occupied !  But  they  continued  to 
come  until  the  large  parlor,  which  was  called  the 
^  Long  Room/  was  completely  filled  wdth  as  good- 
looking  and  contented  a  company  as  often  get  to- 
gether in  a  country  village.  Of  course  there  were 
no  centre-table  or  gaslights,  but  there  were  candles 
on  the  mantels  and  on  the  two  small  tables,  one  at 
each  end  of  the  room.  And  besides  there  was  the 
old  fireplace  with  its  big  andirons,  its  two  backlogs 
and  forestick,  filled  between  with  smaller  wood, 
pflowingf  like  a  furnace,  crackling"  and  roaring-  as  if 
in  very  mirth  in  anticipation  of  the  festive  hours 
that  were  to  follow. 

The  fashion  was  to  send  tea  round.  This  was  a 
most  orderly  proceeding,  and  was  a  good  test  of  the 
executive  abiHty  of  the  hostess.  It  took  a  strong 
and  trusty  hand  to  carry  the  large  waiter  with  its 
precious  burden  of  old-time  chinaware  filled  to  the 
brim  with  the  beverage  that  ^  cheers  but  not  inebri- 
ates.' As  it  is  ushered  in,  there  is  a  pause  in  the 
hum  of  voices.  The  salver  is  rested  for  a  moment 
on  a  small  table  while  the  minister  or  some  other 
saintly  person  asks  a  blessing  on  the  food.  Then 
the  hum  goes  on  Avith  renewed  vigor.  The  tea  is 
passed;  buttered  biscuit  and  cakes,  with  the  etcet- 
eras of  the  tea-table,  follow,  occupying  about  an 
hour  or  so,  after  which  the  company  change  their 
seats,  assorting  themselves  sometimes  into  groups,  as 
incHnation  suits,  so  preparing  themselves  for  the 
evening's    gossip  (I   use    this   in    a  good    sense,  of 


30  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TEEE. 

course),  or  to  discuss  more  profitable  themes,  as  it 
suits  them.  A  shorter  interval  of  apples  and  nuts 
later  in  the  evening,  but  before  nine  o'clock,  fin- 
ishes the  entertainment.  The  horses  are  at  length 
brought  out,  impatient  with  their  long  waiting  in 
the  cold.  We  can  hardly  hold  them  until  the 
sleigh  receives  its  load,  and  at  the  given  signal  they 
dash  off  to  the  music  of  merry  bells  and  creaking 
snow  ;  the  weird  light  of  the  moon,  as  they  ride 
homeward,  throwing  snowdrifts,  the  gaunt  trees 
and  their  shadows,  and  straggling  fences,  into  a 
thousand  shapes.  Soon  they  are  all  gone,  the  last 
notes  of  the  bells  are  lost  in  the  distance,  and  we 
hurry  into  the  old  parlor  to  enjoy  its  unwonted 
light.  We  pull  away  the  fender,  and  for  a  little 
while  bathe  ourselves  in  the  warmth  and  comfort  of 
the  great  fire,  which  is  slowly  spending  itself,  but 
whose  embers  still  glow  and  gleam  as  if  theirs  had 
been  the  scene  of  some  grand  holocaust.  To  the 
younger  part  of  the  family  at  least,  and  quite  likely 
to  the  older  ones  also,  this  is  the  most  enjoyable 
part  of  the  evening.  We  gather  into  a  closer  circle, 
and  discuss  ag-ain  the  news  of  the  neiffliborhood  and 
other  small-talk  of  the  departed  guests.  But  the 
evening  wanes,  the  frosty  winds  are  pushing  at  the 
windows,  the  flickering  shadows  on  the  walls  re- 
mind us  that  bedtime  is  at  hand.  Reverently  the 
prayer  is  offered ;  we  scatter  for  the  night,  leaving 
the  old  room  to  its  accustomed  silence  and  dark- 
ness. 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  31 

The  old-time  life,  looking  at  it  from  my  stand- 
point and  in  its  better  aspects,  —  how  simple  and 
yet  how  grand  it  was  !  " 

The  frequent  social  occasions  did  not  interfere 
with  the  household  work,  in  all  of  which  the  heads 
of  the  family  bore  an  active  23art.  The  substantial 
material  for  clothing  was  manufactui'ed  in  the 
house,  and  all  the  garments  were  cut  and  made 
under  the  supervision  of  the  itinerant  workwomen 
who  were  such  a  feature  in  the  life  of  those  days. 

"  Rene  Parsons  came  here  to  make  the  o-irls' 
surtouts." 

"  Mrs.  Rebekah  D.  came  here  to  talor  ;  tarried 
till  Friday." 

"  Lodemy  came  to  weave." 

"  Mrs.  H.  here  to  weave  our  camblet." 

A  wedding  outfit  included  the  making  of  a  "  cop- 
perplate bed-quilt." 

On  a  visit  to  Boston  a  dressmaker  is  called  in 
"  to  make  my  dress  plumb." 

Two  or  three  times  a  week  she  "  rides  into  town 
of  arrands."  There  she  also  lends  a  hand  at  quilt- 
ings.  At  the  parsonage  she  helps  quilt  "  a  black 
cassimere  coat  for  the  minister's  wife." 

The  first  break  in  this  homely,  quiet  life  occurs 
in  1768,  when  Elizabeth  was  twenty-one.  In  the 
month  of  May  her  cousin,  Squire  Porter,  took  a 
party  of  four  to  Boston,  including  his  wife,  his  sis- 
ter Miss  Polly,  and  herself. 

Although  the  first  of  many  visits,  it  must  at  this 


32  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

time  have  seemed  a  great  event  to  one  brought  up 
in  the  seclusion  of  an  isolated  farm. 

The  diary  runs  :  "  Got  boarding  at  one  Mrs.  Bax- 
ter's. Saw  the  great  carryings-on  at  election.  Went 
to  Trinity  Church.  Heard  one  Mr.  Kneeland. 
Monday,  Nehemiah  W.,  who  belongs  to  Cambridge 
CoUege,  came  over  to  Boston,  got  a  chaise,  and 
waited  on  us  to  Roxberry." 

This  ride  in  a  chaise  was  quite  a  circumstance  to 
those  who  had  hitherto  made  all  expeditions  in  the 
saddle  or  on  a  piUion.  The  journey  of  a  hundred 
miles  from  Hadley  could  at  that  time  be  taken  in  no 
other  way. 

Tuesday  they  went  to  Cambridge  in  company 
with  their  cousin,  Lawyer  Porter,  who  had  joined 
the  party. 

'•'  Dined  at  Bradhffe's  and  drank  tea  in  one  Jona- 
than Smith's  chamber,  who  belongs  to  this  town. 
Mr.  PhiUips,  of  Boston,  with  his  wife  and  two  sis- 
ters. Miss  Polly  and  Miss  Nabby,  they  met  us  at 
Cambridge  by  tea-time  ;  all  drank  tea  together." 

This  Mr.  Phillips  is  worthy  of  notice.  President 
Dwight  says  of  him  :  "  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he 
persuaded  his  father  and  uncle  to  make  the  exten- 
sive benefactions  which  founded  both  the  academies 
at  Andover  and  Exeter.  Of  this  property  he  was 
the  natural  and  presumptive  heir.  He  was  an  only 
son,  and  his  uncle,  who  had  no  child,  regarded  him 
with  parental  affection.  In  an  important  sense, 
therefore,  the  property  thus  given  was  all  his  own." 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  33 

The  party  returned  home  after  a  week's  sight-see- 
ing and  visiting. 

The  next  month,  June  26th,  Elizabeth  went  to  a 
quilting  in  the  village,  followed  by  a  strawberrying. 
Among  the  company  the  name  of  her  future  hus- 
band is  mentioned  for  the  first  time :  "  Charles 
Phelps  took  Lawyer  Porter's  wife  in  a  chair."  A 
riding-chair  was  a  chaise  body  without  a  top.  This 
vehicle  was  no  doubt  the  occasion  of  much  notice, 
as  we  find  by  the  town  records  that  it  was  the  only 
wheeled  carriage  owned  in  the  place  at  that  time. 

Just  before  his  marriage,  the  diary  mentions  that 
Charles  Phelps  went  to  Boston  to  purchase  a  chaise. 
Only  five  of  these  were  owned  in  town  till  1795, 
and  the  history  of  Hadley  gives  a  list  of  their 
owners. 

A  few  weeks  later,  EHzabeth  made  a  visit  to  her 
friend,  "  Miss  Pen,"  and  on  her  return  Charles 
Phelps  takes  her  home,  probably  on  a  pillion,  which 
was  the  usual  custom. 

The  only  comment  she  makes  on  this  attention  is 
the  explanation,  "  he  being  a-going  to  Hatfield." 

The  Puritan  reserve  so  characteristic  of  New  Eng- 
land, and  also,  perhaps,  natural  maiden  modesty, 
prevented  any  allusions  to  the  subsequent  courting. 
The  next  time  we  find  the  name  of  her  suitor  it  is 
as  follows :  — 

"  May  13,  1770,  Sunday;  This  day  I  was  pub- 
lished to  Mr.  Charles  Phelps." 

The  week   after,   "  Rebekah  D.  came  home  with 


'H  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

Hie,  made  ine  a  dark  brown  ducupe  for  my  wedding- 
gown,  and  a  light  brown  tali'ety  for  Dolly." 

This  wodding-gown  appears  eighteen  years  after- 
wards, when  we  find  the  note :  "  Miss  Molly  W. 
here  to  alter  my  wedding-gown."  Again,  in  1812, 
"  Hannah  altered  my  Avedding-gown." 

There  is  a  brief  record  of  "  preperations  for 
wedding."  Then,  June  14th.  "  A  few  moments 
before  four  o'clock  I  gave  my  hand  to  Charles 
Phelps.  Polly  Porter  and  Dorithy  Phelps  brides- 
maids. We  had  about  twenty  couples  at  wedding. 
Fryday  we  had  a  dinner  ;  the  rest  were  all  invited  to 
come  in  the  afternoon." 

The  merrymaking  lasted  two  days,  and  the  follow- 
ing Sunday  she  writes  :   "  Many  visitors  this  week." 

The  bridegroom  had  a  large  connection  in  North- 
ampton, being  descended  from  one  of  the  oldest 
families  in  the  town.  He  himself  was  educated  in 
the  i)rofession  of  the  law,  and  received  his  commis- 
sion from  Governor  Tryon  of  New  York,  in  1771. 
His  contemporaries  in  legal  practice  were  Joseph 
Hawley  of  Northampton,  Oliver  Partridge  of  Hat- 
field, and  others.  He  was  a  selectman  of  the  town 
and  a  justice  of  the  peace. 

His  ancestors  bear  an  honorable  record  in  the 
early  history  of  New  England.  William  Phelps 
came  over  in  the  "  Mary  and  John,"  and  repre- 
sented Dorchester  in  the  General  Court  the  first 
year  of  the  settlement.  He  removed  with  Mr.  War- 
ham's  church  to  Windsor,  and  was  one  of  eight  to 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG   AGO.  35 

take  charge  of  the  Hartford  colony  previous  to  the 
establishment  of  the  legislature.  He  is  said  to  have 
"  devoted  his  whole  time  to  the  service  of  the  pubhc 
as  one  of  its  most  efficient  and  valuable  officers." 
He  aided  in  enacting  the  first  laws  for  the  colony  in 
1639,  after  the  compact  of  the  Connecticut  River 
towns,  and  was  assistant  to  the  governor  in  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  His  son  Nathaniel  moved  to  North- 
ampton at  the  planting  of  that  town,  and  was  one  of 
the  first  deacons  of  the  chiu-ch.  The  homestead, 
which  he  erected  in  1659,  was  on  the  ground  later 
occupied  by  the  Gothic  seminary  for  young  ladies 
kept  by  Miss  Dwight.  Descendants  down  to  the 
sixth  generation  occupied  this  home  for  one  hundred 
and  seventy-six  years.  A  daughter  of  Deacon 
Phelps,  Abigail,  lived  a  full  century  in  the  town, 
dying  in  1756  at  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  two. 

The  second  Nathaniel  was  the  oreat-gfrandfather 
of  Charles  Phelps.  He  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the 
fathers  of  the  town  in  1707.  He  built  a  house 
on  the  corner  of  South  and  Fort  streets,  which  was 
occupied  for  five  generations  during  a  period  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  years. 

His  wife,  Grace  Martin,  left  a  strong  impress 
upon  the  times  in  which  she  Uved.  She  is  men- 
tioned in  early  history  as  "a  person  of  great  reso- 
lution, and  withal  a  little  romantic."  This  descrip- 
tion, which  occurs  in  a  number  of  works  of  gene- 
alogy and  biography,  always  ends :  "  She  has  been 
greatly  praised  by  her  descendants." 


36  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

That  she  possessed  high  spirit,  determination, 
and  strength  of  character,  in  no  common  degree, 
seems  undisputed.  Whether  she  had  also  a  strain 
of  unaginative  sentiment,  a  tinge  of  sensibihty 
approaching  sadness,  and  a  contradiction  of  mood 
mingled  with  reserve,  which  suggested  austerity,  is 
open  to  conjecture.  Certain  it  is  that  some  such 
traits  have  been  so  apparent  in  her  descendants 
from  time  to  time  as  to  lead  to  theii'  being  traced 
back  to  this  grandmother  whose  personality  was  so 
marked. 

James  Savage,  in  his  genealogical  researches  in 
Massachusetts,  discovered,  from  what  source  we 
know  not,  the  following  curious  incident  in  her 
early  life.  He  says  it  is  "  a  well-derived  tradition 
as  to  Grace  Martin.  Her  lover  in  England  was 
false  and  married  another.  She  left  her  native 
land,  came  to  our  country  to  relatives,  the  respect- 
able family  of  Marsh,  of  Hadley,  but  in  ignorance 
of  their  residence,  or  want  of  funds,  or  both,  on 
reaching  Boston  was  in  danger  of  being  sold  for 
her  passage  before  relief  came  from  her  friends. 
One  version  of  the  story  goes  further,  that  she  was 
sold,  but  it  is  good  enough  without  this.  Her  de- 
scendants are  very  numerous,  among  whom  was  my 
distinguished  antiquarian  friend,  Sylvester  Judd." 

On  September  30th  there  was  another  wedding 
in  the  family,  this  time  the  bridesmaid  of  the 
former  occasion  being  herself  the  bride.  The  enti-y 
reads :   "  Mr.   Jonathan   Edwards,  minister  at  New 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  '  37 

Haven,  and  his  two  deacons,  and  Colonel  Worcester, 
came  to  Hadley.  They  dined  at  Esquire  Porter's, 
and  then  came  on  to  Lawyer  Porter's,  and  Miss 
Polly  gave  her  hand  to  Mr.  Edwards."  This  was 
the  same  Miss  Polly  who  made  one  of  the  party  at 
Cambrido-e,  Her  husband  was  a  son  of  the  elder 
Edwards,  and  her  brother's  wife  was  his  sister. 

The  cousins,  who  had  been  dear  and  intimate 
friend^,  are  now  separated.  The  young  mistress 
of  Forty  Acres  begins  to  find  herself  engaged  with 
household  matters.  Although  she  has  always  a 
hearty  interest  in  her  neighbors,  and  their  joys 
and  sorrows,  affairs  on  the  farm  are  more  fre- 
quently referred  to.  During  the  early  years  of  her 
mother's  widowhood,  the  superintendence  was  placed 
in  the  hands  of  a  competent  man.  Shortly  before 
their  marriage,  Mr.  Phelps  took  charge,  establishing 
himself,  after  the  wedding,  on  his  wife's  property. 
He  applied  himself  at  once  to  develop  its  resources 
and  enlarge  its  boundaries.  Nearly  the  whole  of 
Mt.  Warner  was  added  to  the  farm.  Part  of  it 
was  cultivated,  part  was  used  for  sheep  pasture, 
and  a  good  deal  more,  including  Pleasant  Hill,  was 
kept  as  wood-lot.  This  beautiful  upland,  some- 
what hke  a  Swiss  alp  in  the  cleared  portions,  has 
always  seemed  a  sort  of  fairyland  to  the  children 
of  the  family.  Commanding  an  extensive  view 
from  the  rocks  on  the  summit,  sloping  down  to 
a  peaceful  millpond,  abounding  in  nut-ti-ees,  black- 
berry vines,  sweet  fern,  and  mountain  laurel,  it  has 


38  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

been  a  favorite  haunt  from  early  spring  to  late  au- 
tumn. The  same  pen,  which  has  recalled  so  much 
that  was  memorable  of  his  boyhood,  thus  describes 
it :  "  Mt.  Warner  entered  largely  into  my  early  life. 
Our  supphes  of  fuel  all  came  from  it,  and  in  those 
days  of  open  fireplaces  it  was  a  winter's  work  to  pro- 
A^de  for  those  voracious  consumers  of  wood.  Then 
the  pastures  were  there,  and  every  few  days  the  cat- 
tle must  be  salted.  The  oxen  must  be  driven  to 
and  fro,  sometimes  the  cows,  and,  in  the  heat  of  the 
season,  two  or  three  of  us  must  go  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing two  miles  to  bring  home  the  horses  to  go  to 
church.  If  I  remember  rightly,  the  horses  disliked 
being  caught  as  much  as  some  of  the  boys  did  going 
to  meeting. 

Then  there  was  the  washing  of  the  sheep  some 
fine  morning  in  June.  This  was  rare  sport,  but  one 
who  has  read  Cowper's  or  perhaps  Thompson's 
description  of  a  sheep-w^ashing  would  hardly  dare 
attempt  anything  in  the  same  line.  The  sheep- 
shearing,  which  followed  a  few  days  after  the  wash- 
ing, had  its  interest,  too,  especially  for  the  younger 
portions  of  the  family.  The  sheep  were  driven 
home  and  confined  in  a  stable ;  the  barn  floor  was 
nicely  swept.  Then  the  poor  animal,  trembling 
with  fright,  was  brought  out  and  made  to  assume 
an  awkward  sitting  posture,  where,  with  its  back  to- 
wards and  between  the  knees  of  the  operator,  it 
resigns  itself  to  its  fate.  Then  the  shearer  begins 
his    deUcate    task.     Parting    the    wool    under   the 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG   AGO.  39 

neck,  the  nimble  shears  work  their  way  close  to  the 
skin  and  beneath  the  matted  wool,  which  soon  be- 
gins to  fall  oif  around  the  shoulders  in  fleecy  folds, 
white,  soft,  yielding  to  the  touch,  wonderful  in  its 
fresh  beauty,  as  well  as  in  its  after  uses.  After  the 
neck  is  done  the  poor  sheep  is  laid  on  its  side  ;  the 
ringing  clip  goes  relentlessly  on,  until  at  last,  re- 
lieved of  its  burden,  the  prisoner  leaps  forth  into 
native  liberty  again,  but  with  such  diminished  size 
and  uncomely  proportions  as  to  excite  our  hearty 
mirth  at  the  transformation. 

Meantime  the  fleece,  which  is  entire  in  one  piece, 
is  caref  idly  rolled  up  and  tied  together  to  be  sent  to 
the  carding-mill  or  sold. 

When  I  was  a  boy,  my  father  used  to  raise  large 
fields  of  rye  on  Mt.  Warner.  The  preparation  of 
the  fields  must  have  cost  a  great  deal  of  work,  but 
it  required  stronger  hands  than  mine  to  turn  the 
furrows  on  those  sideliills  and  manage  the  team. 
When  it  came  to  harvesting,  I  was  of  more  conse- 
quence. I  could  carry  the  water  for  the  men,  and 
help  throw  the  sheaves  together  for  carting.  This 
water-carrying,  by  the  way,  was  no  light  thing. 

We  used  to  have  a  great  turn-out  of  reapers,  with 
their  flashing  sickles  sweeping  up  the  hill,  the  water 
coming  from  a  spring  at  the  bottom.  I  used  to 
think  the  men  drank  a  most  unreasonable  quantity. 

The  rye-harvest  was  quite  an  event  in  the  work  of 
the  season.  I  can  remember  several  occasions  when 
the  old  English  custom  of  shouting  the  ^  Harvest 
home '  was  observed. 


40  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

Another  thing  must  not  be  forgotten  in  this  con- 
nection, and  that  is  the  annual  apple-gathering.  We 
had  enough  to  do  of  that  at  home,  and  more,  but  the 
apple-gathering  at  Mt.  Warner  was  another  thing. 

There  was  the  early  rising,  to  lengthen  the  short- 
ening days  ;  the  busy  preparation  of  bags,  baskets, 
vehicles,  and  provisions  ;  the  merry  company,  for  all 
went  that  could  be  spared  ;  the  long  ride  up  and 
back  ;  the  dinner  by  the  spring,  so  much  better  than 
at  home.  The  apples,  the  once  famous  '  Scott's 
Sweet,'  were  sorted,  the  best  being  saved  for  winter 
apple-sauce,  and  the  poorer  ones  going  into  cider. 

These  Mt.  Warner  excursions  and  industries 
brought  us  a  good  deal  of  hard  work,  but  they  had 
their  compensations  and  enjoyments,  as  have  most  of 
our  labors  in  after  life  if  we  look  at  them  the  riofht 
way. 

There  was  the  chancre  of  scene  :  life  and  labor  on 
Mt.  Warner,  and  life  and  labor  down  on  the  river 
meadows,  were  two  different  things.  It  may  not  be 
easy  to  define  the  difference,  but  it  was  positive, 
nevertheless  ;  and  as  we  all  like  change,  this  may 
have  contributed  to  make  what  might  otherwise 
have  seemed  hard  enjoyable. 

Besides  this,  the  view  from  these  pasture  lots 
is  one  of  exceptional  beauty.  Across  the  fertile 
meadows  Sugar  Loaf  and  Toby  stand  out  boldly  in 
the  north,  while  between  them  issues  the  river,  which 
from  this  point  follows  a  straight  course  for  several 
miles  until  near  North  Hadley  village,  when  it  bears 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG   AGO.  41 

away  westward,  and,  returning  again,  makes  one  of 
those  bows  of  which  it  is  so  fond,  and  at  the  same 
time  incloses,  on  three  sides,  what  were  known  in 
those  days  as  '  School  Meadows.' 

This  side  or  eastward  of  the  meadows  was  the 
viUaa-e,  and  between  that  and  the  hillside  where  our 
work  lay,  and  which  sloped  down  to  its  very  edge, 
was  the  millpond,  long  and  irregular  in  shape,  but 
not  without  a  certain  beauty  of  its  own,  which  water 
almost  always  has. 

We  were  within  sound  of  the  village  life,  and  in 
August,  when  the  ground  was  being  prepared  for 
sowinof,  the  flails  of  the  threshers  would  beat  time 
all  day  to  the  musical  drone  of  the  mill. 

But  in  the  days  of  which  I  am  writing,  a  large 
part  of  Mt.  Warner  was  covered  with  wood,  —  I  will 
not  say  forest,  for  that  would  imply,  perhaps,  a 
larger  area  than  existed,  but  to  my  mind  they  were 
forests,  and  the  solitudes  were  immense.  There  was 
an  air  of  mystery  about  them.  I  could  not  compass 
or  know  them  as  I  did  the  open  fields. 

And  yet  they  were  fascinating.  I  would  not  dare 
explore  their  depths  alone,  for  fear  of  being  lost, 
but,  with  one  who  knew  them,  a  plunge  from  sun- 
light, song,  and  flowers  into  their  overhanging 
shadows,  with  nothing  to  break  the  silence  but 
the  distant  trill  of  some  solitary  wood-thrush,  was  a 
strange,  awe-inspiring,  and,  but  for  the  guide  at  my 
side,  rather  a  fearful  experience,  but  with  one  who 
knew  the  way  exhilarating,  a  sort  of  tonic. 


42  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

What  a  type  it  was  of  some  of  the  after  experi- 
ences of  our  lives  !  Only,  in  these  later  ones,  it  was 
a  deeper  life  that  entered  the  solitudes.  The  shadows 
were  darker,  the  chill  more  palpable,  the  thickets 
more  impenetrable,  and  the  silence  absolute ;  no,  not 
that,  but  only  less,  because  the  kind,  wise  Friend 
who  held  us  by  the  hand  reassured  and  led  us  out 
again  with  more  tender  recollections,  with  larger 
lives,  and  with  higher  hopes,  than  we  ever  knew 
before. 

It  was  from  the  woods  that  we  used  to  get  our 
supphes  of  birch,  —  not  for  our  backs,  —  of  winter- 
green  and  sassafras,  and  we  used  to  skirt  the  edges 
of  this  unknown  land  to  secure  the  necessaries  of  a 
boy's  inventory  of  goods  and  chattels. 

But  it  was  the  nutting  that  gave  its  peculiar 
charm  to  the  Avoods.  Chestnutting,  especially,  was 
the  autumn  pastime.  As  early  as  July,  we  watched 
for  the  long  plume-Hke  blossoms,  to  know  if  the 
fruit  were  likely  to  be  abundant.  We  welcomed  the 
frosts  because  they  would  open  the  burrs,  and,  later 
in  the  season,  the  showers  of  wind  and  rain  were 
our  helpers  to  beat  off  the  precious  Ijurden  and  lay 
it  at  our  feet. 

Those  Avere  hours  of  high  hope  and  bold  adven- 
ture, when,  some  fine  morning  in  October,  after  a 
storm,  a  party  of  us  would  start  off  on  one  of  these 
nutting  expeditions.  Numbers  gave  us  daring  :  the 
wooded  shades  were  not  so  dark  as  in  the  suunner, 
for  the  falling  leaves   let  in    more    light,    and    Ave 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  43 

should  meet  other  companies  on  our  way.  The 
bracing  air,  the  pungent  odor  of  the  forest  known 
only  at  this  season,  no  doubt  the  very  exercise  of 
this  faculty  of  search  for  something  we  might  call 
fOur  own,  all  contributed  to  give  a  zest  to  these  ex- 
cursions, which  is  known  only  to  youth  and  inex- 
perience. 

Then  the  sense  of  beauty  was  constantly  stimu- 
lated and  gratified.  I  beg  you  do  not  laugh  at 
me  for  expatiating  on  the  beauty  of  chestnut  burrs ; 
but  they  are  like  some  unlovable  people  who  never 
open  and  show  theii*  beauty  and  sweetness  imtd  just 
before  they  drop  into  their  graves.  It  is  something 
so  with  these  chestnut  burrs  and  their  contents  ;  woe 
to  the  boy  who  steps  on  one  of  them  barefooted ! 
but  show  me  one  whose  eyes  will  not  ghsten  with 
delight  at  the  sight  of  one  of  these  freshly  fallen 
prickly  globes,  full-packed  with  meat,  and  opened 
just  enough  to  show  the  white  satin  lining  in  which 
sleep  these  beauties  of  the  wood,  and  I  will  confess 
that  we  live  in  a  degenerate  age. 

The  color  of  the  chestnut,  you  know,  is  a  syno- 
nym for  the  richest  brown,  and  the  silken  scarf 
which  covers  the  neck  is  as  soft  as  the  eider's  down. 
I  think  there  is  nothing  that  can  give  us  a  more  im- 
pressive sense  of  the  inherent  love  of  beauty  that 
dwells  in  the  divine  nature  than  these  chance  speci- 
mens, as  I  may  almost  call  them,  —  the  lining  of  a 
chestnut-burr,  which  the  weather  will  spoil  in  a  few 
hours  ;  or   the  frost    etchings    upon    a  window,  so 


44  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

exquisite  sometimes  in  their  outline,  and  yet  which  a 
breath  a\411  dissolve. 

Mt.  Warner  has  no  caves  or  other  natural  curios- 
ities, that  I  know  of,  exceptmg  two  large  boulders, 
lying,  one  in  the  pasture,  and  the  other  in  the 
wood,  near  the  top  of  the  mountain.  The  latter 
went  by  the  name  of  '  John's  Rock,'  because,  as  the 
family  tradition  said,  my  grandfather's  gardener,  a 
Scotchman,  used  to  visit  it  on  Sundays  and  take  his 
naps  there.  The  curiosity  about  those  boulders  is 
that  they  are  of  a  different  formation  from  the  sui-- 
rounding  rock,  and  e^ddently  came  from  Toby  or 
Sugar  Loaf,  wdiicli  I  think  are  of  volcanic  origm." 

The  following  allusion  to  Mt.  Warner  is  found  in 
the  diary :  — 

"  In  the  afternoon,  my  husband  carried  me  up  to 
our  mountaui  farm  ;  walked  tlu'ough  much  of  it ;  saw 
a  fine  prospect  of  wheat.  Oh  that  it  might  come 
to  maturity  and  we  enjoy  it !  I  am  almost  purposed 
to  look  around  and  see  how  many  blessings  we  have. 
0  God,  give  one  blessing  more,  even  the  best !  " 

The  expressions  of  humble  and  earnest  piety 
which  characterize  the  private  heart-searchings  and 
the  home  chronicle  of  Ehzabeth's  Hfe  are  frequent. 
They  are  sometimes  clothed  in  the  quaint  language 
of  the  time,  but  are  uniformly  unaffected  and  sin- 
cere. On  her  birthday,  November  20,  1768,  she 
writes :  — 

"  Satterday.  This  day  one-and-twenty  years  of 
age.     As  I  grow  in  years  may  I  grow  in  Grace  and 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  45 

may  the  time  past  of  my  life  more  than  suffice  to 
me  to  have  wrouoht  the  will  of  the  Flesh." 

Soon  after  her  marriage  she  receives  from  a  friend 
whom  she  visited  an  admonition  on  "  the  vanity  of 
great  appearance ;  may  it  be  a  warning  to  me  never 
to  value  myself  for  grandeur." 

After  the  children  came,  we  find  the  following 
tender  gratitude  :  — 

"  This  day  after  meeting,  our  boys  came  home, 
told  us  the  wolves  had  destroyed  a  number  of  our 
sheep  and  lambs.  But,  thanks  be  to  God,  'tis  not 
our  house  lambs." 

In  the  church,  special  thanksgivings  and  fasts 
were  frequent. 

"  June  9th,  Sunday.  This  day  there  was  thanks 
returned  to  Almighty  God  for  his  mercy  in  not 
suffering  the  hurricane,  which  was  at  Mountain 
Gate  the  night  before,  to  tear  them  quite  to  pieces, 
thou2'h  it  did  considerable  mischief." 

From  the  reports  of  the  sermons,  the  favorite 
theme  seems  to  have  been  the  terrors  of  judgment. 
Great  efforts  were  made  to  alarm  the  impenitent. 
The  guilty  were  openly  rebuked  from  the  pulpit, 
and  backsliders  held  up  to  condemnation. 

September  18,  1768,  Mr.  Hopkins  preached  two 
rousing  sermons,  "  reproached  all  equally,  but  es- 
pecially the  sin  of  lying,"  two  persons  he  had  refer- 
ence to  being  present  in  the  congregation. 

There  was,  in  those  days,  open  concern  about 
personal  security  in  spiritual  matters. 


46  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    EOOF-TREE. 

They  met  for  prayer  at  a  private  house  for  one 
"  who  seems  to  be  m  a  despau-ing  way."  Mental 
eloucling-over  ahnost  invariably  took  this  form. 

''  A  meeting  was  called  on  La^vyer  Porter's  ac- 
count, who  continues  to  be  in  distress  for  his  soul." 

The  Puritan  conscience  was  always  awake  to  the 
sense  of  direct  accountability  to  its  Maker.  When 
the  future  state  of  the  wicked  and  the  certainty  of 
retribution  were  depicted  in  the  reahstic  style  com- 
mon to  New  England  pulj^its  in  the  last  century, 
it  is  no  wonder  that  the  effect  on  sensitive  natures 
was  sometimes  overwhelming*. 

If,  however,  gloom  and  despair  were  accompani- 
ments of  the  religion  of  those  days,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  Christian  people  were,  hke  the  Hebrews, 
sustained  by  an  unshaken  confidence  in  the  over- 
ruling of  Divine  Providence.  Both  loyalty  to  law 
itself  and  to  a  gi'eat  Law-giver  were  strengthened 
by  the  large  share  given  in  places  of  worship  to 
matters  of  pubHc  moment.  Fasts  were  held  at  all 
times  of  serious  anxiety,  sermons  were  preached  on 
(piestions  of  common  Aveal,  prayers  and  thanksgiv- 
ings were  offered. 

A  heavy  cloud  of  disturbance  was  now  gathering, 
under  whose  shadow  all  the  patriotism,  resolution, 
and  devout  faith  of  the  colonists  would  be  called 
forth. 

Only  two  years  after  the  marriage  of  Charles 
Phelps,  the  town  of  Hadley  took  pubhc  action  on  a 
matter  of  wider  interest  than  its  own  local  affairs. 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG   AGO.  47 

Frequent  instances  had  already  occurred  of  op- 
pression by  the  officials  of  the  crown,  and  remon- 
strance had  been  made  against  injustice  by  the  peo- 
ple of  the  provinces. 

The  Hadley  freemen  maintained,  like  the  Massa- 
chusetts Assembly,  that  the  king  to  whom  allegiance 
was  sworn  should  be  the  sole  umpire  between  them 
and  the  British  Parliament. 

They  voted  at  town  meeting,  in  1772,  "  that  our 
grievances  be  made  known  to  His  Majesty." 

In  August,  1774,  there  is  threatening  of  war. 
The  diary  says :  "  Just  at  night  my  husband  came 
home  from  town  with  terrible  news  that  the  army  of 
forces,  which  are  stationed  in  Boston,  had  begun  to 
fight,  and  were  coming  out  into  the  Country  spread- 
ing destruction  wherever  they  came.  Distressing 
night.     But  the  Lord  is  our  Trust." 

"  November  13,  1774.  Publick  affairs  are  at 
present  very  dark." 

Fast  days  are  now  frequently  referred  to,  some- 
times local,  at  other  times  appointed  by  the  Provin- 
cial Congress. 

"  April  23,  1775.  In  the  afternoon  my  Husband 
set  out  for  Brookfield  as  a  post,  to  hear  what  News, 
for  last  Wednesday  the  Troops  and  our  men  had  a 
Battle,  numbers  lost  on  both  sides,  but  it  seems  as  if 
we  were  most  favored.  O  most  gracious  Lord,  save 
from  the  spilling  of  human  Blood,  pray  save  Thy 
people,  our  Eyes  are  unto  Thee." 

"  June  25,  1775.    News  has  come  this  week  from 


48  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

our  Army  at  Cambridge,  and  round  about  there, 
that  they  had  a  battle  hist  week  Satterday,  about 
fifty  killed,  some  wounded,  some  taken.  It  is  said, 
that  many  more  of  the  Regulars  are  killed  than  of 
the  provincials  ;  they  have  taken  ground  from  our 
men  :  the  event  is  thine,  most  Gracious  God ;  we 
are  ready  to  view  it  as  a  frowning  providence,  but  0 
our  God,  our  Fathers  trusted  in  thee,  and  were  not 
ashamed ;  we  desire  to  come  out  of  ourselves,  to  re- 
nounce our  own  strength.  The  Race  is  not  to  the 
swift  nor  the  Battle  to  the  strong,  salvation  is  the 
Lord's  ;  we  are  a  distressed  people,  extremely  dry 
we  are  here  and  there  was  a  frost  last  Tuesday  night 
which  has  cut  down  almost  all  the  corn  hereabouts, 
the  most  severe  one  I  suppose  ever  known  at  this 
season  of  the  year.  God  is  righteous ;  0  may  I 
learn  to  rejoice  in  the  Lord  (whatever  distress)  and 
joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation." 

"July  20,  1775.  A  Universal  fast  recommended 
by  the  Continental  Congress  to  all  the  English  In- 
habitants of  this  vast  and  extensive  Continent." 

"  August  13.  Friday  went  down  to  Mr.  Thomas 
Smith's  to  get  Lydia  to  show  me  how  to  make  a  pair 
of  breeches,  for  the  soldiers'  people  are  sent  to  find 
'em  clothes." 

"  August  20.  A  number  of  prisoners  went  thro' 
this  town  to  Northampton  gail  taken  from  the  Reg- 
ulars." 

"February  25,  1776.  My  husband  set  out  for 
Cambridge ;  his  team  Goodrich  went  away  with 
loaded  witli  flour." 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  49 

"  March  3.  Our  men  this  day  set  out  for  Que- 
beck,  a  number  of  them  came  and  presented  them- 
selves m  the  broad  alley.  Mr.  Hopkins  rose  and 
told  their  desii'e  of  the  prayers  of  the  people,  then 
they  bowed  and  went  off.  Bless  'em,  pray  Father 
bless  'em." 

"  March  19.  This  day  the  Regulars  left  Boston, 
which  they  have  held  as  their  Garrison  this  year. 
Glory  to  God." 

"  May  11.  Friday  a  Continental  Fast ;  a  mighty 
force  it  is  said  is  coming  against  this  land.  0  our 
God,  they  can  have  no  might  nor  power  against  us 
except  it  be  given  them  from  above.  In  the  name 
of  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  the  God  of  the  Armies  of 
Israel,  may  we  lift  up  our  banners." 

"  July  14.  Mr.  Lyman  preached  a  sermon  to 
the  men  that  have  enlisted  to  go  to  the  relief  of  our 
Northern  Army." 

"  July  6,  1777.  Very  bad  news  this  week ;  our 
forts  at  Ticonderoga  given  up  to  our  enemies  hand. 
God  is  righteous." 

"  July  13th.  Great  part  of  the  militia  went  to 
the  Northward  last  week." 

"  August  17,  1777,  Sunday.  Awakened  this 
morning  about  four  o'clock  with  the  ringing  of  Hat- 
field BeU ;  soon  heard  it  was  an  alarm  from  the 
Westward  ;  many  men  set  out  to  go ;  none  of  our 
family  at  meeting  but  John  the  Regular  Captive,  and 
Jacob  (he  was  bound  here  a  year  ago)  but  I  can't 
find  where  the  text  was,  all  seems  to  be  confusion." 


50  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TEEE. 

This  is  the  only  Sunday  in  a  period  of  forty-seven 
years,  except  in  sickness,  when  the  text  of  the  ser- 
mon is  not  carefully  entered. 

"  August  21,  1777.  The  event  of  the  late  alarm 
was  that  the  enemy  sent  out  a  party  to  come  and 
destroy  the  outposts,  but  the  people  rose,  and  the 
Lord  ordered  it  that  they  met  with  a  great  defeat ; 
drove  'em  back  to  a  wood.  Not  unto  us,  not  unto 
us,  but  to  the  Lord,  be  the  glory  thou  had  begun  to 
save,  our  eyes,  pray  Father,  are  unto  Thee,  we  de- 
sire to  come  and  wait  for  deliverance  at  thy  hand 
and  in  thy  way  and  time." 

"  September  20th.  Another  alarm.  O  Lord,  I 
tremble." 

"October  19th.  Dined  at  Col.  Porter's.  He 
came  just  before  two,  confirmed  the  good  news  of 
Burgoyne's  having  surrendered  up  his  whole  army. 
Oh  wonderful,  wonderful,  words  can't  express  our 
adoration  and  praise.  Glory  and  Power  and  Might 
be  given  to  the  Lord  Almighty  !  All  to  Thee  !  All 
to  Thee  !  Utterly  unworthy  we  !  the  Lord  has  done 
it ;  pray,  Father,  perfect  this  begun  goodness.  Oh 
that  all  may  see  the  hand  of  God.  I  desire  to  fall 
down  in  astonishment !  " 

The  retreat  of  Burgoyne's  army  was  through 
Hadley,  then  on  the  direct  road  from  Albany  to 
Boston.     Of  their  march  this  record  is  made  :  — 

"October  26,  1777.  Our  whole  family  Left 
home  to  see  the  Regulars  pass,  but  only  the  babe 
and  me." 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  51 

Esquire  Porter,  so  often  referred  to,  was  a  colonel 
in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  commanded  troops 
in  the  campaign  against  Burgoyne.  When  his  dis- 
tinguished adversary  passed  through  Hadley  after 
his  surrender,  Colonel  Porter  invited  him  to  stay 
at  his  house,  while  the  soldiers  encamped  in  the 
meadow.  The  courtesy  was  so  generously  appre- 
ciated by  the  British  officer  that  he  left  behind  his 
sword  as  a  recognition  of  the  hospitality  extended 
to  him.  This  memento,  which  is  of  beautiful  work- 
manship, is  treasured  among  the  descendants  to  the 
present  tune. 

In  an  earlier  generation,  before  such  relics  became 
of  value,  it  lay  forgotten,  and  was  at  last  discovered 
by  the  great-granddaughters,  who  now  preserve  it, 
hidden  in  a  chest  between  piles  of  blankets. 

On  one  of  his  visits  at  home  during  the  Revo- 
lution, Colonel  Porter  brought  with  him  a  Scotch- 
man, a  prisoner  of  war.  He  entered  the  service  of 
Charles  Phelps,  and  was  the  "  Captive  "  previously 
referred  to.  By  that  name  he  was  known  for  some 
time,  but  was  remembered  in  later  years  as  John 
Morrison,  the  gardener. 

"  This  was  his  especial  business  in  the  summer 
season,  and  from  what  I  have  heard  he  must  have 
been  bred  to  the  employment.  He  was  a  relic  of 
the  British  army  of  the  Revolution,  and  chose  to 
remain  in  this  country  after  the  war. 

I  doubt  if  at  that  time  there  was  a  farmer  in  the 
three   counties  who   kept  a  professional   gardener. 


52  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

that  is,  one  whose  exckisive  business  was  orna- 
mental gardening.  I  never  knew  the  garden  in  its 
prime,  but  our  mother  often  spoke  of  its  beauties, 
and  I  can  remember  how  sad  it  made  her  feel  to 
have  those  sacred  precincts  invaded  by  the  unfeeling- 
plough  and  boorish  oxen,  that  would  as  soon  tread 
upon  the  fairest  flower  as  upon  a  thistle.  I  imagine 
old  John's  indignation  could  hardly  have  found 
words  to  express  itself,  vehement  as  he  sometimes 
was  in  his  speech,  could  he  have  seen  the  pro- 
fanation. Why,  there  were  few  precious  hands  good 
enough  even  to  turn  the  sacred  soil ;  and  as  to 
flowers,  Avoe  to  the  luckless  one  outside  the  house- 
hold who  should  dare  to  brave  his  wrath  by  even 
touching  one  of  his  floral  treasures. 

And  yet  he  had  the  Scotch  humor.  He  culti- 
vated the  sensitive  plant,  very  rare  in  those  days. 
He  would  amuse  liimself  sometimes  by  getting  one 
unacquainted  with  its  peculiarities  to  touch  it,  and 
then  witness  the  fright  and  sudden  collapse.  I 
used  to  hear  many  of  his  hons  mots,  but  remem- 
ber only  one.  When  any  nice  dish  was  being  dis- 
cussed, the  foundation  of  which  was  ordinary  mate- 
rial, he  used  to  say  :  '  You  can  make  my  old  boots 
good  by  putting  enough  butter  on  them.'  " 

Another  captive,  a  Hessian,  was  brought  from 
the  wars.  After  he  settled  permanently  on  the 
farm,  he  probably  sent  for  his  wife,  for  it  is  re- 
corded that  they  lived  for  years  in  a  little  hut  at 
the  foot  of  Pleasant  Hill.    An  old  German    Psalm 


THE    HOUSE,    FROM   THE    GARDEN 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  53 

Book  in  the  family  library  must  have  belonged 
to  them.  They  evidently  retained  the  customs  of 
their  native  land,  foreign  to  Puritan  New  Eng- 
land. Mrs.  Phelps  mentions  in  the  diary  that  she 
and  her  husband  took  supper  one  Christmas  Eve 
with  "  Mary  and  Andries,"  perhaps  at  that  time  the 
only  celebration  of  the  occasion  in  the  country 
round.  An  old  letter  describes  the  pitiful  condition 
of  the  poor  woman,  alone  in  a  strange  land,  when 
her  husband  died. 

Again  and  again  she  wailed,  "  Mein  Andries, 
mein  Andries,  what  shall  I  now  doon  ?  " 

She  was  tenderly  cared  for,  taken  into  the  large 
house,  and  provided  with  a  home  during  the  remain- 
der of  her  life.  It  is  evident  that  it  was  a  great  trial 
to  a  Yankee  housekeeper  to  admit  into  her  spotless 
dwelling  one  whose  peasant  habits  were  somewhat 
offensive.  Mrs.  Phelps,  however,  rebukes  herself 
for  the  struggle,  and  with  characteristic  cheerfulness 
assumes  the  burden.  The  difficulty  was  increased, 
as  she  says,  for  "  she  can  understand  so  little  what 
we  say,  and  we  so  poorly  understand  her." 

There  is  a  record  in  the  diary  of  prayers  offered 
in  the  village  meeting  during  the  anxious  time  of 
Andries'  sickness,  and  of  the  solicitude  with  which 
he  was  nursed. 

Those  were  not  the  days  of  institutions  to  which 
all  classes  of  sufferers  could  be  relegated,  —  of 
organized  relief  societies,  bureaus,  and  refuges.  A 
family  like  that    of   Charles  and  Elizabeth    Phelps 


64  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

provided  out  of  their  own  means  for  those  fellow- 
creatures  living  in  direct  relation  to  them,  and  for 
the  wider  circle  of  neighbors  who  were  in  trouble 
or  want. 

Good  sense  and  a  broad  spirit  of  charity  alike 
taught  them  to  make  allowance  for  the  moral  infirm- 
ities consequent  upon  dependence,  and  for  the  in- 
herent Aveakness  of  human  nature. 

One  of  those  cases  peculiarly  difficult  to  deal  with, 
and  often  so  discouraging  as  to  be  abandoned,  was 
that  of  a  young  woman  wdiom  Mrs.  Phelps  befriended 
and  brought  up.  For  years  her  letters  are  full  of 
anxious  care  for  "  Mitty."  Again  and  again  she 
took  the  girl  back,  under  circumstances  which  must 
have  made  her  almost  hopeless.  Still  she  continued 
to  strengthen  and  stimulate  the  feeble  nature,  mak- 
ing all  excuses  possible  for  that  restlessness  and 
impatience  of  control  natural  to  youth.  In  the  end, 
after  several  lapses,  Mitty  made  a  respectable  mar- 
riage and  lived  to  old  age,  honored  by  her  children 
and  grandchildren,  and  giving  faithful  service  in  the 
family  to  whose  head  she  owed  so  much. 

Of  the  other  hired  help,  Mrs.  Phelps  was  always 
most  considerate.  She  praised  them  for  their  faith- 
fulness, was  solicitous  for  their  w^elfare,  and  took 
unwearied  pains  in  the  training  of  the  young. 

In  later  years  her  letters  to  her  daughter,  full  of 
domestic  details,  have  no  complaints  of  the  servants, 
but  frequent  allusions  to  them,  satisfaction  with 
their  care  in  her  absence,  messages  to  them,  interest 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG   AGO.  55 

in  their  affairs.  For  some  time  after  her  marriage, 
there  were  several  African  slaves  in  the  household, 
who  are  often  mentioned.  In  1772  she  writes : 
"  Our  Peg,  who  has  Lived  with  us  near  eighteen 
years,  of  her  own  choice  left  her  children  and  was 
sold  to  one  Capt.  Fay  with  a  negro  man  from  this 
town,  for  the  sake  of  being  his  wife." 

In  1782  notice  is  taken  of  a  woman  who  has  left, 
"  o'one  off  free." 

A  young  slave  girl  was  tenderly  cared  for  during 
a  lingering  decline,  and  in  meeting  "  Prayers  were 
offered  for  our  Phyllis  being  very  Low."  In  the  ex- 
treme cold  weather  a  great  chest  was  made  into  a 
warm  bed  and  placed  in  the  large  kitchen,  and  there 
the  poor  child  died. 

Peace  was  at  last  restored  after  the  long  public 
disturbances. 

''  December  30,  1778.  Thanksgiving  through  all 
the  United  States  of  America.  Will  the  Lord  be 
pleased  to  bless  the  State  of  America." 

Amono;  the  delejjates  to  the  Continental  Cono-ress 
in  Philadelphia  was  Charles  Phelps,  senior,  the  father 
of  Charles,  by  whose  wife  frequent  mention  is  made 
of  him  in  the  pages  of  her  diary. 

This  singular  man  was  endowed  in  a  large  degree 
with  that  mixture  of  romance  and  resolution  which 
Grace  Martin  bequeathed  to  her  descendants.  The 
history  of  his  life  is  that  of  one  whose  ideal  of  ac- 
tion was  so  high,  and  his  adherence  to  it  so  unflinch- 
ing, that  all  other  considerations  were  set  at  nought. 


56  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TEEE. 

His  birtlnjlace  and  early  home  were  in  North- 
ampton, where  he  married  Dorothy  Root,  "  a  lady  of 
spirit  and  character."  Several  years  before  the  mar- 
riage of  his  son  Charles,  he  disposed  of  his  property 
in  Hadley,  where  he  had  been  residing,  and  took  up 
land  grants  on  the  Avestern  side  of  the  Connecticut 
River,  beyond  the  boundary  of  Massachusetts.  In 
this  country,  which  was  then  a  wilderness,  he  estab- 
lished himself  with  his  family. 

His  grandson,  John  Phelps,  has  written  out  an  in- 
teresting narrative  connected  with  those  days.  He 
says  :  "  In  the  township  of  New  Marlboro',  at  the 
foot  of  the  Green  Mountains,  with  no  neighbors  but 
beasts  of  prey,  they  built  their  cabins  to  shield  them 
against  that  most  inclement  climate. 

Here  they  commenced  felhng  the  formidable  for- 
ests around  them.  It  was  no  holiday  s^iort,  this. 
Nor  had  they  any  reasonable  prospect  of  wealth  to 
incite  them.  Nor  was  it  to  enjoy  freedom  of  con- 
science that  they  sacrificed  every  hope  of  enjoyment 
for  an  age  at  least ;  because,  at  that  very  moment, 
the  Southern  Colonies,  with  a  more  genial  climate 
and  generous  soil,  lay  equally  open  to  their  enter- 
prise. Nations  are  founded  as  Providence  orders. 
Moved  by  a  severe  and  fearless  impulse,  the  iron 
men  and  women  that  planted  themselves  among  the 
rocks  and  evergfreen  wildernesses  of  New  Enoland 
had  for  an  immediate  object,  no  doubt,  a  home ;  but 
theu's  was  a  higher  ministry,  unknown  to  them,  that 
they  were  performing.     They  were  planting  a  nur- 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  57 

sery  for  the  propagation  of  nations,  to  be  trans- 
planted in  due  time  to  the  vast  and  fertile  valleys  of 
'  The  West.' 

Sixteen  years  of  labor,  toil,  and  hardship  found 
them  in  the  midst  of  a  large  clearing  ;  fields  of 
grass  and  grain  around  them  ;  sheep,  cattle,  and 
horses  in  their  pastures,  and  pigs  and  poultry  in 
their  yards,  —  the  enjoyment  of  which,  however, 
was  yet  disputed  by  bears,  wolves,  catamounts,  and 
other  vermin  of  the  forest.  At  length,  however, 
other  inhabitants  had  begun  to  settle  on  ^  The 
Grants,'  and  other  clearings  had  begun  to  dot  the 
hillsides  and  forests.  Grinding  and  saw  mills  had 
been  erected." 

In  this  spot,  still  remote  from  the  world,  Charles 
Phelps  conceived  the  high  purpose  of  building  and 
endowing  a  college.  Although  it  never  reached 
completion,  the  imagination  of  its  projector,  living 
on  the  hilltops  in  a  dream  of  his  own  creation, 
seems  to  have  endowed  it  with  a  glow  of  romance. 

The  following  quaint  account  shows  what  an  im- 
pression was  made  through  him  on  the  mind  of  his 
second  wife,  and  the  circumstances  of  their  mar- 
riage :  — 

"  My  grandmother  Phelps  died  in  1775.  The 
family  in  this  event  suffered  a  great  loss,  which,  as 
far  as  my  grandfather  was  concerned,  he  repaired 
a  few  months  after  by  marrying  another  wife,  one 
of  the  sweetest  and  most  amiable  of  women,  Mrs. 
Anstis  Eustis  Kneeland,  a  fair  and  handsome  widow 


oS  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

of  thirty,  after  a  romantic  courtship  of  one  day,  he 
being  about  sixty  years  of  age.  This  hidy  belcftiged 
to  the  ancient  and  honorable  family  of  Eustis  in 
Boston ;  was  the  widow  of  a  Mr.  Kneeland,  a  re- 
spectable printer  of  that  place,  who  had  died  a  year 
or  two  before. 

The  mornino-  after  the  weddino-  it  was  announced 
in  a  morning  paper.  As  there  is  something  even 
in  this  notice  that  oives  some  idea  of  the  char- 
acter   of   the   gentleman,    I    subjoin    it :    '  Married, 

by   the    Rev.    Mr.    ,    according    to    the   forms 

of  the  venerable  Church  of  Enoland,  the  Honorable 
Charles  Phelps,  late  one  of  his  Majesty's  Justices 
of  the  Common  Pleas,  a  gentleman  of  uncommon 
politeness,  to  the  interesting  and  accomplished  Mrs. 
Anstis  Eustis  Kneeland,  relict  of  Mr.  Kneeland, 
late  of  Boston,  printer,  after  a  romantic  Courtship 
of  24  hours.' 

It  was  understood  in  the  family  that  it  was 
the  aunt  of  Mrs.  Kneeland,  Mrs.  Eustis,  also  a 
widow  lady,  much  nearer  the  age  of  my  grand- 
father, that  he  was  in  pursuit  of  for  a  wife.  His  call 
at  her  elegant  mansion  was  to  declare  this  his 
intention.  This  princess  of  a  lady  declined  the 
honor  intended  her,  but  politely  informed  him  that 
she  had  a  niece  visiting  Avith  her,  also  a  widow, 
to  whom  an  offer  of  this  kind  mio-ht  be  more 
agreeable  ;  and  she  thereupon  introduced  her.  The 
young  lady,  all  covered  with  blushes,  and  trem- 
bling with  apprehension,  received  the  salutation  of 


A    DIAKY    OF    LONG    AGO.  59 

an  old  gentleman,  large  and  corpulent,  six  feet 
three  inches  in  the  clear,  in  full  bottom  wig,  frizzed 
and  powdered  in  the  most  approved  style,  either  for 
the  judicial  bench  or  ladies'  drawing-room. 

The  announcement  of  the  question  immediately 
followed.  The  lady  turned  pale.  Her  delicacy  was 
shocked.  With  overpowered  sensations  she  begged 
to  withdraw  a  moment.  Her  aunt  also  s'entlv  ob- 
tained  leave  of  absence  and  followed.  After  a  short 
consideration  the  ladies  both  returned.  '  Judo;e 
Phelps,'  remarked  the  elder  lady,  '  we  are  taken  by 
surprise.  The  subject  is  deeply  important.  My 
niece,  although  favorably  impressed,  asks  time  to 
consider.  She  presumes  upon  your  delicacy,  and 
is  assured  that  if  it  at  all  corresponds  with  your 
gallantry,  you  will  indulge  her  a  short  space  for 
reflection,  say  one  week,  after  which,  if  you  will 
honor  us  with  a  call,  my  niece  —  we,  I  mean  —  AviU 
be  better  prepared.' 

*  Preparation  !  Dearest  madam,  do  me  the  favor 
to  commit  all  preparation  to  my  care.  I  am  so 
happy  in  this  respect  that  I  have  already  hinted  to 
a  dear  friend  of  mine,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of 
the  Kirk  of  Scotland  (to  which  Evangelical  com- 
munion I  have  no  doubt  you  conform ),  that  I 
may  have  need.' 

*  Not  on  account  of  the  marriage  of  my  niece,  sir  ! 
By  a  Presbyterian  !    That  will  never  do,  never,  sir  !  ' 

Alas,  how  liable  are  the  most  eager  hopes  and  ex- 
pectations to  receive  a  chill !    In  the  way  of  his  own 


60  UNDER    A    COLOXIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

cherished  profession,  the  gentleman  was  brought  up 
with  a  special  demurrer  here,  and  that  by  a  lady. 

With  the  astute  eye  of  a  lawyer,  however,  he  per- 
ceived that  the  lady  had  committed  a  departure 
from  the  original  issue,  which  was  matter  of  sub- 
stance, —  to  wit  :  marry  now  or  not  marry  at  all, 
—  and  had  closed  upon  a  new  issue,  and  that, 
too,  of  a  mere  Presbyterian  form,  of  no  substance 
at  all.  He  therefore  adroitly  proposed,  in  the  most 
eloquent  and  poHte  terms,  to  the  ladies,  and  in 
a  manner  most  condescending,  that  on  reflection  he 
cheerfully  yielded  in  matter  of  form  to  their  su- 
perior propriety  and  taste,  and  would  be  married 
in  any  church  they  might  choose  on  the  morrow 
mornmg,  so  that  in  the  afternoon  they  might  set 
out  on  their  journey  to  his  seat  in  '  The  Grants.' 

The  ladies,  a  Httle  surprised,  but  on  the  whole 
gratified,  at  this  easy  way  of  shoving  off  a  difficulty, 
and  feeling  not  a  little  proud  of  their  triumph 
over  the  Presbyterian ;  the  first  concession  being: 
yielded  to  the  lady  argued  well  for  her  future  su- 
premacy. The  definitive  arrangement  was  settled 
accordingly  ;  and  on  the  morrow,  the  skillful  diplo- 
matist and  gratified  groom,  ^\'ith  his  happy  and 
admiring  bride,  was  on  his  way  to  Vermont. 

This  lady,  now  a  bride,  possessed  one  master  senti- 
ment :  it  was  love.  This  taught  her  the  most  pleas- 
ant duty  of  being  subject  to  her  adored  husband 
in  all  things.  It  also  covered  all  her  husband's 
deficiencies  and  faults,  and  there  was  great   need. 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  61 

Having-  no  sense  of  comfort  himself,  he  provided 
none  for  others. 

Therefore,  when  his  lady  arrived  at  her  new 
home,  she  found  it  to  be  a  sort  of  castle  built 
of  hewed  logs,  standing  in  a  bleak  open  field, 
recently  partly  cleared,  stumps,  logs,  and  other  ves- 
tiges of  rude  creation  surrounding  it ;  unfinished 
at  the  time  and  never  afterwards  finished. 

The  original  design  of  the  building  was  large  and 
magnificent.  In  the  basement  were  mills,  worked 
by  hand  or  horse-power,  for  grinding  corn.  On  the 
first  floor  was  a  spacious  hall,  with  folding  doors  at 
either  end,  through  which  the  north  winds  were 
wont  to  sweep  at  pleasure.  In  tliis  hall,  also,  was 
the  staircase. 

Entering  this  hall  from  the  south,  on  your  left 
you  entered  the  grand  parlor ;  next  was  a  spare 
sleeping  room ;  and  lastly,  on  the  extreme  end,  was 
his  honor's  chosen  Hbrary,  composed  of  the  best 
authors  of  the  day,  on  divinity,  law,  physics,  belles- 
lettres,  etc.,  divinity  and  law  occupying  by  far 
the  heavier  shelves.  On  the  rig-ht  side  of  the  hall 
were  his  honor's  dining  hall,  cook  room,  sleeping- 
room,  and  two  bedrooms  as  convenient  appendages. 
The  two  upper  stories  were  designed  as  rooms 
for  a  college  establishment,  recitation  rooms,  lecture 
rooms,  and  dormitories  for  yoimg  gentlemen  stu- 
dents. 

By  his  honor's  will,  executed  a  few  days  before 
his    death,    this    whole    college    establishment    was 


62  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

solemnly  dedicated  and  set  apart  for  an  institu- 
tion of  learning,  in  perpetuity,  and  endowed  with 
many  ten  thousand  acres  of  his  Draper  and  Som- 
erset estates.  Young  Moses  Porter  Phelps,  son  of 
Charles  Phelps,  Esq.,  of  Old  Hadley,  then  a  stu- 
dent in  Cambridge  College,  was  duly  appointed  first 
president  thereof,  with  power,  for  the  time  being, 
over  the  whole  building,  domestic  as  well  as  scientific 
and  literary,  —  over  the  whole  Hbrary,  philosophical 
apparatus,  chemical,  geometrical,  and  mathematical 
instruments.  Provided  always,  that  Avhen  he  arrived 
at  suitable  years,  became  duly  qualified,  showed 
genius  for  government,  had  scientific  and  literary 
abilities ;  was  deeply  imbued  with  religion,  accord- 
ing to  the  doctrines  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland  ;  had 
taken  to  liimself  a  sober,  discreet,  and  exemplary 
wife,  of  the  same  religious  views  and  doctrines ;  and 
provided,  also,  that  he  would  reside  in  the  same 
college  building  and  make  it  his  home. 

From  this  glowing  description,  given  in  a  solemn 
matter-of-fact  paper,  we  may  judge  Avhat  was  the 
description  of  it  given  to  his  Boston  bride  before  she 
saw  it.  The  gentleman  certainly  was  making  un- 
authorized drafts  upon  his  imagination  ;  or  rather 
he  was  describing  what  his  house  and  college  might 
be,  rather  than  what  it  was. 

There  were  no  chimneys,  no  glass  windows,  no  re- 
citation rooms,  no  dormitories,  no  floors.  The  upper 
stories  were  always  used  for  hay-lofts.  It  was  to 
such  a  house  as  this,  w4th  all  its  future    destinies 


A   DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  63 

in  prospect,  that  the  Boston  lady  was  introduced,  and 
of  which  she  became  mistress. 

One  of  the  first  visible  objects,  after  my  mother 
and  perhaps  my  father,  that  I  remember  to  have  set 
my  young  admiring  eyes  upon,  was  this  Boston  lady, 
whom,  in  rude  and  rustic  familiarity,  we  used  to 
call  '  Granny.'  Methinks  I  see  her  now,  of  a  fine 
summer's  afternoon  or  evening,  dressed  to  see  her 
little  Johnny,  some  four  years  of  age,  the  only 
quality  she  expected,  unless,  upon  an  evening  of 
uncommon  leisure,  when  my  lively-spirited  mother 
might  accompany  me.  There  she  sits,  clad  in  rich 
changeable  silks,  gold  watch  with  heavy  estabhsh- 
ment  in  her  girdle ;  a  double  chain  of  gold,  con- 
nected in  front  with  a  large  jDrecious  stone  locket  set 
in  gold,  around  her  deHcately  turned  neck ;  golden 
bracelets  around  her  wrists. 

There  she  sits,  that  Boston  lady  of  the  olden 
time.  Methinks  I  see  her  now,  and  hear,  too,  that 
soft  and  gentle  '  ahem,'  as  if  to  prepare  her  voice  for 
the  sweetest  and  tenderest  welcome ;  and  feel,  too, 
those  glowing,  hearty  kisses.  I  sit  upon  her  knee ; 
I  hear  her  charming  stories ;  I  say  my  prayer ; 
I  receive  my  cake,  with  her  parting  kiss  and  bless- 
ing, and  run  home  a  happier  and  better  boy. 

This  lady  was  left  comfortably  off  by  my  grand- 
father. For  two  or  three  years  after  his  death 
she  kept  up  the  family  mansion,  the  old  college 
edifice.  She  kept  a  fine  table,  which  she  knew 
how  to  set  forth  in  excellent  style,  so  as  to  show  her 


Q4:  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

taste  and  thrift  to  the  best  advantage.  She  often 
indulged  in,  to  her,  the  great  hixury  of  giving  a 
dinner,  at  which  I  had  sometuues  the  honor  of 
being  a  guest.  Her  person,  address,  style  of  living, 
and  rich  conversational  powers  obtained  for  her 
many  admirers.  But  she  gloried  in  my  grandfather, 
and  never  tired  in  setting  forth  his  worth.  In  this 
duty  nature,  admiration,  and  love  all  combined,  for 
he  possessed  a  noble,  commanding  person. 

A  frame  six  feet  three  inches  in  height,  erect, 
ample,  bony,  gave  fuU  scope  to  a  body  inclining 
to  be  corpulent  to  favorably  develop  itself.  Light 
gray,  lustrous  eyes,  finely  set  beneath  ample,  capa- 
cious brows,  gave  to  a  high,  squarely  tiu'ned  fore- 
head a  sense  both  of  firmness  and  power. 

His  dress  on  ordinary,  every-day  occasions  was 
mean,  badly  attended  to,  and  slovenly.  But  when 
dressed  for  public  occasions,  nothing  could  be  more 
magnificent,  fashionable,  or  in  better  taste.  The 
finest  linen,  frilled  at  wrist  and  bosom  with  the  most 
costly  cambrics ;  golden  buckles  to  his  stock,  costly 
gems  for  buttons  to  his  wristbands ;  deep  blue  broad- 
cloth coat  of  the  finest  and  firmest  material ;  buff 
vest  and  smallclothes,  silk  stockings,  with  shoes  or 
boots  to  fit.  And  then  the  wig,  —  that  ample, 
full-bottomed,  full-powdered  wig,  of  the  style  of 
Louis  XIV.,  or  George  III. ;  to  which  add  the 
brilliant  on  his  finger,  and  the  rings  in  his  ears,  the 
whole  being  surmounted  with  the  tasteful  chapeau- 
de-bras,  with  buttons  of  gold." 

The  diary  mentions  the  death  of   the  first  wife 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  65 

of  Charles  Phelps,  Sen.,  as  occurring  September 
13,  1777. 

In  that  year  there  were  frequent  visits  of  the  old 
gentleman.  In  May,  1778,  he  was  on  his  way  to 
Boston. 

"  June.  Father  came,  and  a  woman  who  he  is  go- 
ing to  take  up  to  Marlborough  to  spin  and  weave, 
one  widow." 

"December  29.  Father  Phelps  came  here  and 
brought  a  wife  ( she  was  the  widow  Kneeland,  of 
Boston)." 

There  is  a  letter  still  preserved  written  by  Charles 
Phelps,  at  the  time  his  son  Solomon,  afterwards 
a  graduate  of  Harvard,  was  in  college  :  — 

"  To  the  Reverend  and  Honorable  Edward  Hol- 
yoke,  Esqr.,  President  of  Harvard  College,  and  the 
ever  respectable  tutors  of  the  same. 

After  compliments  paid  you  upon  a  grateful 
remembrance  of  the  favor  and  respect  you  have 
shown  me,  I  earnestly  desire  the  favor  of  permitting 
my  son  at  college  to  return  home  with  his  brother 
before  Thanksgiving,  with  whom  I  have  sent  a  horse 
for  him  to  ride  up,  if  you,  gentlemen,  will  permit 
him  to  do  so ;  confidently  relying  upon  it  that, 
if  I  could  with  conveniency  suggest  the  reasons, 
my  desire  would  not  be  denied. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  with  great  respect. 

Your  very  humble  and  much  obliged  servant,  at 
command,  Charles  Phelps. 

Hadley,  Nov.  26,  a.  d.  1761." 


66  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    KOOF-TREE. 

Soon  after  the  Revolutionary  War,  Charles  Phelps, 
Sen.,  became  engaged  in  a  hot  contention  concerning 
the  jurisdiction  over  the  towns  of  New  Marlboro' 
and  others  in  Cumberland  County,  part  of  what  was 
originally  known  as  "  The  New  Hampshire  Grants." 
This  territory,  having  organized  under  the  laws  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  resisted  the  authority  of  the 
newly  formed  State  of  Vermont,  and  remained  firm 
in  its  allegiance  to  New  York.  By  the  recommen- 
dation of  Congress,  each  district  was  to  maintam 
its  own  constitution  and  laws.  Under  this  arrangfe- 
meut  Charles  Phelps  received  the  appomtment  of 
chief  justice,  and  his  son  Timothy  that  of  high 
sheriff. 

When  disputes  began  to  arise,  and  Vermont  en- 
forced her  demand  for  taxes  in  the  disaffected  towns, 
Mr.  Phelps  traveled  to  Philadelphia  to  maintain  his 
claim  before  Cono^ress.  Its  decision  was  that  the 
governor  of  New  York  State  should  direct  its  loyal 
subjects  in  Cumberland  County  to  resist  the  im- 
positions of  the  State  of  Vermont.  To  those  who 
supported  this  ruling,  the  encroachments  of  Ver- 
mont, in  annexing  portions  of  New  Hampshire  and 
New  York,  seemed  usurping  and  dangerous.  New 
York  State  pledged  civil  and  military  support  in 
the  contest.  The  Cumberland  County  militia,  loyal 
to  New  York,  organized  and  overcame  the  Vermont 
constables  and  sheriff.  At  this  point,  however, 
General  Ethan  Allen  crossed  the  mountains  with 
his  troops  and  quelled  the  disturbance. 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  67 

The  insurgents  were  tried  and  condemned  to  ban- 
ishment. 

Charles  Phelps  was  still  in  Philadelphia  trying-  to 
obtain  redress.  His  property  had  been  confiscated, 
and  history  represents  him  at  this  time  in  distress  from 
poverty  and  exile,  but  determined  to  win  his  cause  if 
possible.  To  him  a  principle  was  involved  which 
required  the  sacrifice  of  every  personal  consideration. 

His  son  Timothy  was  among  those  ordered  to 
leave  the  State.  Being,  however,  as  fully  convinced 
as  his  father  of  the  justice  of  their  cause,  and  be- 
lieving that  it  would  finally  triumph,  he  quietly 
returned  to  his  home  and  settled  down  on  the  farm. 
His  son  thus  describes  the  attitude  he  assumed :  — 

"  The  scenes  that  were  enacted  in  these  border 
feuds  were  amusing,  and  at  this  day  would  be 
ludicrous ;  the  reason  for  which  was,  that  the  com- 
batants were  neighbors  acting  under  disputed 
authorities,  neither  of  which  felt  entirely  confident 
that  it  would  be  justified  in  the  end.  The  consta- 
bles of  Windham  County,  with  their  assistants,  would 
come  with  their  warrants  for  taxes ;  my  father,  as 
Sheriff  of  Cumberland  County,  would  read  to  them 
the  riot  act,  whereupon  the  affrighted  consta- 
bles would  retire  for  fresh  instructions.  But  after 
the  decree  of  banishment,  the  riot  act  in  the  mouth 
of  my  father  seemed  to  have  lost  its  effect.  An 
occasion  soon  presented  itself  which  required  de- 
cisive measures. 

My  father  one  morning,  pitchfork  in  hand,  was 


68  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

feeding  his  oxen,  preparatory  to  his  day's  occupation, 
when  a  constable  with  his  suite  appeared,  and  made 
proclamation  that  he  distrained  the  oxen  for  taxes, 
and  was  proceeding  to  drive  them  off  for  that  pur- 
pose. My  father  placed  himself  before  the  oxen 
with  his  pitchfork,  and  ordered  the  constable  to  de- 
sist, at  his  peril. 

The  constable  not  obeying,  but  persisting  in  driv- 
ing the  cattle  oif,  my  father  effectually  rescued  them 
by  knocking  down  the  constable  for  dead  with  the 
fork ;  upon  which  the  assistants  fled,  and  my  father 
went  about  his  business  as  usual ;  soon,  however, 
to  be  disturbed  and  routed  by  another  Green  Moun- 
tain army  under  another  General  Allen." 

Mrs.  Timothy  Phelps  was  quite  equal  to  her  hus- 
band in  the  resolution  she  displayed.  On  the 
occasion  of  one  of  these  raids  of  General  Ira  Allen 
in  search  of  her  husband,  she  Avas  engaged  with 
her  servants  at  the  household  washing  in  MUl 
River.  "  She  had  scarcely  got  well  into  the  suds, 
when  she  saw  splashing  into  the  ford-way  more  than 
forty  armed  men,  all  mounted,  with  their  drawn 
swords  wavmg  and  glittering  in  the  sunbeams ;  and 
to  her  great  surprise  and  regret,  she  saw  this  armed 
body  of  enemies  piloted  and  conducted  by  her  old 
friend  and  neighbor.  Col.  W.  As  soon  as  they  ap- 
proached the  place  where  she  was  stationed,  with 
a  spirit  more  undaunted  than  that  of  any  hero,  be- 
cause with  the  spirit  of  a  betrayed  and  injured 
woman,  she  stepped  forward  and  said  :   '  Col.  W., 


A    DIAKY    OF    LONG    AGO.  69 

you  grieve  and  amaze  me.  I  had  not  expected 
meanness  and  treachery  like  this  in  a  friend  like 
you.'  Saying  this,  and  not  waiting  for  an  apology 
which  W.  was  attempting  to  stammer  out,  she  took 
me  by  the  hand,  and,  ordering  her  maid  to  run,  she 
proceeded  quick  step  for  the  house,  not  exactly 
in  sight,  but  only  some  quarter  of  a  mile  distant. 
The  little  tow-headed  almshouse  boy,  having  in- 
stinctively snuffed  the  object  of  this  warlike  move- 
ment, had  instantly  and  unnoticed  taken  himself  off, 
and  under  cover  of  a  large  grove  of  poplars,  ^vith 
almost  greyhound  speed,  had  given  notice  to  my 
father  of  the  near  approach  of  the  enemy. 

The  armed  force  in  the  mean  time  had  arrived, 
and  after  wheeling,  in  great  military  display,  two  or 
three  times  around  the  house,  dismounted,  forced 
the  door,  and  went  in  ;  my  mother,  with  her  child  in 
her  hand,  following  in  short  and  quick  order  into 
the  house,  of  which  she  no  sooner  gained  possession 
than  a  volley  of  before-unheard-of  eloquence,  com- 
mencing '  Cowardly  miscreants,'  assailed  their  ears. 
Evidently  they  soon  began  to  feel  abashed  and  dis- 
tressed. Being  gentlemen,  generous  and  gallant, 
they  seemed  perplexed  how  to  act  in  so  novel  an 
affair.  They  demanded  to  be  shown  my  father. 
She  denied  and  defied  them ;  telling  them  to  go 
to  Col.  W.,  and  not  come  to  her,  a  woman  and  a 
wife,  to  aid  them  in  their  oppression,  tyranny, 
and  robbery ;  all  this  while  follomng  them  up, 
armed  with  large  kitchen  fire-shovel ;  warning  them. 


70  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

ill  the  most  firm  though  stormy  and  indignant 
manner,  '  to  leave  the  house,  upon  the  peril  of  hav- 
ing their  brains  laid  open ;  mean,  contemptible, 
cowardly  banditti  as  they  were.  Draw  your  pol- 
troon swords  upon  a  woman  and  her  infants,  will 
you?  brave  heroes  as  you  are.  Use  them  if  you 
dare.  A  day  of  awful  reckoning  is  at  hand  for 
you,  my  worthies.' 

It  was  distressing  for  me  to  see,  not  my  mother 
indeed,  but  those  whom  she  was  so  hotly  pursuing, 
though  annoyed  by  me  all  the  while  at  her  apron 
strinofs. 

At  one  time  one  might  see  them  dodging  into 
a  corner,  as  if  to  escape  her  blows ;  at  another 
endeavoring  to  provoke  a  laugh  by  some  affected  at- 
tempt at  wit.  All  would  not  do.  They  were  men 
who  had  learned  humanity  in  a  better  school  than 
that  in  which  they  found  themselves  engaged, 
and  had  not  been  tauo-ht  to  war  on  defenseless 
woman,  or  ruthlessly  break  the  doors  of  her  private 
chambers. 

After  laughing  themselves,  and  at  length  my 
mother  also,  into  a  fit  of  good  feeling,  they  took  her 
naked  word  that  my  father  was  not  in  the  house, 
which  was  true  ;  and  after  suitable  apologies,  and 
kind  wishes  for  the  return  of  mutual  friendship 
and  confidences,  ^vith  profound  courtesy  and  polite- 
ness they  departed. 

But  it  was  no  part  of  my  father's  character  to 
shun  the  face  of  a  fellow-mortal,  and  the  cavalcade 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  71 

was  scarcely  out  of  sight  before  lie  reappeared  in 
the  midst  of  his  family.  But  he  was  allowed  to 
remain  only  a  few  days.  A  deputy  sheriff  was  sent 
at  the  head  of  some  eight  or  ten  assistants,  and, 
suddenly  entering  our  house  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, seized  and  imprisoned  my  father.  The  direct 
route  to  the  jail  lay  through  the  town  of  Brattle- 
borough.  While  the  sheriff  was  passing  with  his 
prisoner,  a  large  collection  of  Yorkers,  assembled 
for  raising  a  building  in  that  town,  sprang  from  the 
frame,  handspikes  in  hand,  rescued  my  father, 
who  was  then-  sheriff,  and  sent  the  Vermont  sheriff 
with  his  posse  home,  to  try  his  luck  again. 

My  father  thereupon  was  immediately  provided 
with  a  horse  and  all  necessary  accommodations, 
together  with  a  strong  guard,  to  conduct  him  be- 
yond the  line  of  Vermont  into  Massachusetts,  which 
done  he  pursued  his  way  to  the  residence  of  Charles 
Phelps,  his  brother,  in  Hadley. 

An  increased  force  immediately  set  about  a  pur- 
suit and  recapture  ;  came  in  the  dead  of  night,  pell- 
mell,  upon  my  uncle's  residence,  and  thundered  at 
his  doors.  My  uncle,  springing  from  his  bed  and 
calHng  for  his  servants  and  his  arms,  rushed  to  the 
door.  The  sheriff  and  his  men  were  already  in.  A 
struggle  ensued.  My  uncle  was  overpowered  and 
floored,  and  they  were  proceeding  to  bind  him,  when 
Mrs.  Phelps,  my  uncle's  wife,  claimed  him  for  her 
husband.  By  this  time  my  father  appeared,  and  was 
secured  and  hurried  off  towards  Vermont.     No  time 


72  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

was  lost  on  the  other  side.  My  uncle  flew  to  the 
High  Sheriff  of  Hampshire  County  (his  wife's  cou- 
sin, Col.  Porter)  with  a  hue  and  cry. 

The  posse  was  forthwith  rallied,  together  with  the 
local  militia,  which  happened  at  that  time  to  be  com- 
manded by  my  uncle. 

All  being  well-mounted,  and  armed  to  the  teeth, 
a  hot  pursuit  commenced.  The  Vermonters  were 
overtaken  at  Bloody  Brook,  in  Deerfield,  at  about 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  where  they  had  dis- 
mounted to  refresh  horses  and  men.  No  time  was 
given  to  rally,  but  sword  in  hand  the  Hampshire 
County  boys  rushed  in  uj^on  them  while  at  break- 
fast, and  captured  every  man. 

They  were  all  taken  back  and  secured  in  North- 
ampton jail,  the  common  recej^tacle  at  that  time  for 
all  disorderly  birds  from  Vermont." 

Mrs.  Charles  Phelps  thus  describes  the  occur- 
rence :  — 

"  January  19,  1784,  Monday.  Five  men  came  to 
take  Brother  Timothy,  they  abused  my  Husband 
and  took  Tim.  Went  off  —  we  had  a  most  dreadful 
fright  but  Blessed  be  God  no  lives  lost  —  my  Hus- 
band went  to  Col.  Porter  and  a  number  of  men 
pursued  'em,  brought  'em  back.  Tuesday  had  the 
court  at  Northampton.  Brother  went  on  to  New 
York." 

While  these  stirring  events  were  occurring  under 
the  family  roof -tree,  the  elder  Charles  continued  in 
Philadelphia,  and  published  there  a  pamphlet  entitled 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  73 

"  Vermonters  Unmasked,"  in  which  he  argued  con- 
chisively  in  favor  of  the  New  York  party.  "  He 
did  not  fail  to  present  to  all  the  States  the  danger 
they  were  in,  if  the  audacious  precedent  attempted  to 
be  established  by  Vermont  of  dismembering,  as  they 
had  lately  done,  New  Hampshire  and  New  York, 
and  annexing  to  their  own  already  usurped  dominion 
so  large  territories  of  independent  States,  should  be 
allowed." 

In  response  to  these  representations  Congress 
passed  resolutions  restoring  all  the  confiscated  prop- 
erty of  the  insurgents,  and  rescinding  their  orders 
of  banishment. 

This  action  was,  however,  defied  and  ignored  by 
the  State  of  Vermont.  Timothy  Phelps,  in  full  con- 
fidence of  his  credentials,  clothed  w4th  his  official 
dress  and  emblazoned  with  the  insigna  of  au- 
thority, boldly  attempted  to  read  the  resolutions  of 
Congress  in  the  presence  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Vermont.  The  house  was  thrown  into  confusion 
by  the  aggressive  and  determined  attitude  of  the 
New  York  sheriff.  A  scene  of  tumult  ensued,  and 
Phelps  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  as  a  traitor  and 
insurgent,  with  others  of  his  party. 

After  a  winter's  suffering  in  the  privation  of  a 
common  jail,  there  now  seemed  no  further  course 
open  than  submission.  Yielding  to  the  entreaties 
of  his  wife,  he  gave  his  allegiance  to  the  authorities 
of  Vermont.  This  concession  ©"ained  for  him  at 
once  the  honorable  treatment  and  attentions  of  his 


74  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

opponents,  who  could  not  fail  to  admire  the  reso- 
lution he  had  displayed. 

His  father,  Charles  Phelps,  was  steadfast  to  the 
last. 

"Repudiating  all  advice,  refusing  all  assistance, 
disdaining  to  petition  those  whose  power  he  resisted 
and  defied,  he  remained  a  prisoner  of  state,  in  close 
confinement,  long  after  every  reasonable  mind  had 
become  convinced  that  Vermont  had  cleared  the 
way  for  a  triumphal  entry  into  the  Federal  Union. 

A  political  revolution,  which  in  no  case  ever  goes 
back,  in  this  case  was  not  likely  to  be  impeded  in 
the  sUghtest  degree  by  any  individual  suffering 
it  might  occasion ;  but  would  roll  on,  Avith  increased 
momentum  and  power,  to  its  final  consummation, 
leaving  those  who  had  been  overthrown,  by  en- 
deavoring to  stop  the  movement,  to  recover  them- 
selves the  best  way  they  could. 

This  state  of  things  had  become  apparent  to  every 
one  but  him.  He  took  no  measures,  nor  would 
he  consent  that  any  should  be  taken,  for  his  de- 
liverance. For  this  he  was  ultimately  indebted  to 
measures  taken  by  his  son,  Charles  Phelps,  Jr.,  Esq., 
of  Massachusetts,  without  the  knowledge  and  con- 
sent of  his  father.  This  gentleman,  by  a  petition  to 
the  Governor  and  Council  of  Vermont,  obtained  for 
him  a  free  and  unqualified  pardon,  with  an  order  for 
the  restitution  of  sucli  of  his  estates  as  then  re- 
mained in  the  government  to  restore.  When  his 
prison  doors  were  opened  to  him,  he  showed  surprise 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  75 

and  chagrin  rather  than  joy  and  satisfaction  ;  and 
that  no  fnture  advantage  shoukl  be  taken  of  him 
even  by  inference  that  he  had  anywise  subjected 
himself  to  the  authority  he  opposed,  before  leaving 
the  prison  he  gave  public  notice,  '  That  he  recog- 
nized no  power  in  Vermont  even  to  release  him ;  and 
that  he  left  not  by  legal  authority,  but  from  want  of 
physical  power  in  his  enemies  to  detain  him  longer.' 

With  this  he  returned  to  his  family,  and  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life  was  spent  in  preparing  docu- 
ments, facts,  and  arguments  to  induce  Congress  to 
make  good  their  resolutions  of  the  5th  of  December, 
1782.  He  left  large  masses  of  well-labored  papers 
prepared  to  this  end. 

In  his  will,  executed  in  1789,  he  styles  himself 
Charles  Phelps  of  New  Marlborough,  in  the  County 
of  Cumberland,  in  the  State  of  New  York.  All  he 
says  about  Vermont  is,  ^  That  its  people  had  got  his 
lands  and  other  estate,  and  thereby  impoverished 
him.' " 

His  experience  of  personal  distress,  forfeiture  of 
fortune,  and  disappointment  in  a  hopeless  cause 
seems  never  to  have  daunted  this  determined  char- 
acter. Notliing  availed  to  him  in  comparison  with 
the  justice  of  his  claim.  The  contention  over  the 
New  Hampshire  Grants,  with  the  excited  feeling 
and  local  divisions  which  it  caused,  goes  to  show  out 
of  what  discordant  elements  the  peace  of  the  nation 
was  effected  under  the  American  Constitution.  It 
is  fortunate  for  our  country  that  its  founders  had 


76  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

neither  the  hot  blood  nor  the  dogged  temper  of 
Charles  Phelps,  but  were  men  endowed  with  wisdom, 
moderation,  and  breadth  of  view.  At  the  same  time 
the  descendants  of  a  patriot,  who  sacrificed  every- 
thing for  a  principle,  in  which  his  only  personal  con- 
cern was  loss  rather  than  gain,  will  not  disown  their 
birthright,  or  fail  in  respect  for  his  character. 

The  town  of  New  Marlboroujih  still  slumbers 
among  the  hills,  remote  as  of  old  from  share  in  the' 
great  currents  of  outside  progress.  The  great  Uni- 
versity has  crumbled  into  dust.  Children  and  grand- 
children who  inherited  the  remains  of  the  large 
estate  have  gone  out  into  the  world  to  bear  their 
part  in  the  stirring  life  of  our  new  civilization. 
Strangers  now  till  the  rocky  pastures  which  sur- 
round the  family  burying  place.  The  retreat  of 
habitation,  so  deplored  in  our  solitary  New  Eng- 
land towns,  has  left  this  little  "  God's  Acre  "  far 
away  from  the  tread  of  man.  The  occasional  pil- 
gTim,  moved  to  offer  a  tribute  to  the  rugged  char- 
acter of  a  forefather,  searches  with  difficulty  for  the 
inclosure.  He  finds  it  abandoned  to  the  wild  and 
tangled  verdure  which  is  the  only  luxuriance  of  the 
granite  hills.  The  old  man  Hes  in  the  stillness  and 
the  clear  atmosphere  of  the  uplands  amid  whose  in- 
spirations his  soul  gained  its  unwavering  adherence 
to  truth  and  riofht. 

In  reference  to  the  afore-mentioned  events  the 
diary  says  :  — 

"  1782,  September  8.       Father  Phelps  came  here, 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG   AGO.  77 

there  has  been  great  commotion  about  a  new  state, 
got  to  bloodshed  but  none  killed  yet  as  we  know  of. 

0  most  mighty  God,  all  are  in  thine  hands  as  clay  in 
the  hand  of  the  potter,  glorify  thy  name  if  it  may  be 
command  peace,  be  better  than  our  fears  but  surely 
Ave  will  endeavor  to  honor  God  in  all  situations  in 
Life." 

"  October  10.  Brother  Timothy  came  here  in 
trouble  there  about  the  state." 

"  December  24.  Brother  Timothy  came  here 
again  fled  from  home." 

"February  25,  1784.  My  husband  set  out  for 
Bennington  to  get  Father  out  of  jail.  Saturday 
eve.  got  home  had  success  in  his  business  for  which 

1  return  thanks  to  God." 

"October  21.  My  husband  set  out  for  Vermont 
to  do  some  business  for  Father." 

The  19th  of  April,  1781,  has  always  been  remem- 
bered in  New  England  as  a  day  of  uncommon  in- 
clemency for  that  date.  In  the  diary  we  find  "a 
great  storm  of  hail  and  snow." 

The  following  year  came  a  sad  affl.iction  in  the 
loss  of  Mrs.  Phelps's  bridesmaid  and  cousin. 

"1782,  July  1.  Just  at  dark  Sam.  Porter  came 
here  and  brought  the  melancholy  news  of  Mrs.  Ed- 
wards' death  said  she  was  drowned  watering  her 
Horse  went  in  too  far,  my  dear  friend  the  compan- 
ion of  my  childhood  and  youth."  The  next  year  she 
says :  "  June  29,  Mrs.  Edwards  two  daughters  Polly 
10,  Jerusha  8.  0  how  dear  they  are  to  me  for 
their  mother's  sake  !  " 


78  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

The  disturbed  condition  of  the  country  after  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  the  consequent  financial 
embarrassment,  led  to  the  popidar  uprising-  known 
as  "  Shays'  Rebellion."  Such  serious  discord  was 
threatened  that  Washington  wrote  Lincoln  in  Massa- 
chusetts, "  Are  yoiu'  people  getting  mad  ?  Are  we 
to  have  the  goodly  fabric,  that  eight  years  were 
spent  in  raising,  pulled  down  over  our  heads  ? " 
The  principal  causes  of  discontent  were,  the  univer- 
sal indebtedness,  and  the  scarcity  of  money.  Efforts 
of  creditors  to  collect  what  was  due  them  were  re- 
sisted. Among  the  tui-bulent  and  unprincipled  of 
the  community,  the  cry  was,  "  Down  ^\dth  the  courts 
of  law,  prevent  the  judges  from  actmg,  and  hang  the 
lawyers." 

A  convention  met  at  Hatfield,  August  22,  1786, 
and  made  out  a  list  of  grievances.  Fifteen  hundred 
armed  men  assembled  at  Northampton  the  same 
month,  to  prevent  the  session  of  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas.  Daniel  Shays,  a  captain  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  of  doubtful  reputation,  headed  the  in- 
surgents in  Hampshu'e  County.  At  Sjiringfield  a 
large  body  collected  to  prevent  the  meeting  of  the 
Supreme  Court. 

The  difficulties  threatened  were  so  grave  that  the 
state  miUtia  was  ordered  out,  and  placed  under  the 
command  of  General  Lincoln.  On  the  20th  of  Janu- 
ary the  troops  marched  to  Worcester  to  jjrotect  the 
courts  there.  An  attempt  was  now  made  on  the 
part  of   the   insurgents  to   gain  possession  of  the 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  79 

United  States  Arsenal  at  Springfield.  They  were 
dispersed  by  General  Shephard  with  the  loss  o£ 
several  of  their  men. 

Shays  retreated  to  Amherst,  whither  he  was  fol- 
lowed by  General  Lincoln  on  the  29th,  upon  Avhose 
arrival  he  took  refuge  on  the  Pelham  Hills  while  the 
militia  were  quartered  at  Hadley  and  Hatfield.  On 
the  30th  General  Lincoln  sent  a  letter  to  Shays  ad- 
vising him  to  surrender,  giving  a  promise  that  the 
privates,  if  they  at  once  laid  down  their  arms,  should 
be  recommended  for  mercy.  Shays  asked  time  to 
petition  the  General  Court,  and  many  letters  were 
sent  to  General  Lincoln  begging  him  to  suspend 
hostihties  until  a  new  Legislature  should  be  chosen. 
He  was,  however,  resolute  in  demanding,  first  of  all, 
the  disbanding  of  the  troops.  Failing  this,  he  pre- 
pared his  forces  for  an  attack  on  the  party  at  Pel- 
ham.  The  insurgents  started  at  once  on  a  retreat 
across  the  hills  to  Petersham.  Lincoln  followed 
by  a  hurried  night's  march.  It  was  midwinter; 
a  north  wind  arose,  the  roads  were  filled  with 
snow.  Through  large  districts  no  shelter  could 
be  obtained,  and  the  whole  distance,  thirty  miles, 
was  traversed  between  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening 
and  nine  the  next  morning.  Taken  as  it  was  by 
men  unaccustomed  to  the  field,  and  in  the  inclemency 
of  the  severest  month  in  the  year,  it  was  long  cele- 
brated among  the  annals  of  New  England  adven- 
ture. This  rapid  movement  proved  successful. 
Shays' s  men  had   made  the  journey  earher,  before 


80  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

the  clianoe  in  the  weather,  which  occuiied  after  mid- 
night.  They  were  resting,  and  sleeping  off  their 
exertions,  when  the  mihtia  surprised  them.  One 
hundred  and  fifty  were  captured,  and  thus  the  cam- 
paign ended  without  a  drop  of  blood  shed  among 
the  soldiers  of  the  Commonwealth,  who  had  crossed 
a  wide  section  of  the  State,  and  routed  two  bodies 
of  armed  men. 

After  some  further  disturbances  in  Berkshire 
County,  and  the  neighboring  States  where  the  dis- 
affected had  taken  refuge,  quiet  was  restored,  and 
after  April  no  alarms  occurred. 

Such  riot  and  threatening  of  war  near  at  home 
were  naturally  a  cause  of  anxiety  at  Forty  Acres. 
The  diary  says:  "1786,  September  25.  Monday 
my  Husband  set  out  for  Springfield ;  publick  aff'aii-s 
seem  to  be  in  a  confused  situation  many  are  gone  to 
prevent  the  sitting  of  the  Court  and  many  are  gone 
to  uphold  the  Court.  0  Lord  bring  order  out  of 
disorder.  Thou  canst  effect  it.  We  trust  in  all- 
mighty  power." 

"  Thursday  Mr.  Phelps  returned  in  safety,  no 
Hves  lost." 

"  December  15,  Thursday  Thanksgi\'ing  day.  Mr. 
Hopkins  preached  no  sermon.  Col.  Porter  read  an 
address  from  the  General  Court  to  all  the  people  in 
this  Commonwealth,  there  has  been  a  great  deal  of 
Disturbance  of  late  among  the  people,  how  it  will 
terminate  God  only  knows.  I  desire  to  make  it  my 
earnest  prayer  to  be  fitted  for  events  and  prepared 


A   DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  81 

for  Duty  and  I  am  not  able  to  Dictate.  I  know  not 
what  is  right  and  best,  I  think  I  can  chearf ul  leave 
it  in  the  hands  of  an  infinite  wisdom  to  govern  pray- 
ing for  peace  and  good  order  and  that  good  may 
come  out  of  evil  in  God's  own  time  and  manner." 

"  1787,  January  18.  Thursday  morning  Hus- 
band set  out  with  sleigh  to  help  the  men  to  Spring- 
field which  are  raised  in  this  town  for  the  support 
of  government.  David  Johnson  our  Boy  is  gone 
and  a  great  many  others,  and  it  looks  as  Dark  as 
Night,  a  very  great  Army  is  coming  from  toward 
Boston,  and  some  are  collecting  on  the  other  side 
—  it  appears  as  if  nothing  but  the  immediate  inter- 
position of  providence  could  prevent  Blood  —  and 
there  I  think  I  can  say  I  desire  to  leave  it.  The 
counsel  of  the  Lord  that  shall  stand.  And  my 
Husband  got  home  that  Eve,  but  he  proposes  to 
go  soon  —  may  I  still  say  Amen." 

"  January  21.  Mr.  Hopkins  Spoke  very  well 
upon  the  present  Dark  Day. 

Monday  morning  Mr.  Phelps  set  out  for  Spring- 
field. 

Tuesday  eve  —  he  came  back. 

Wednesday.  Killed  two  oxen,  set  out  with  the 
meat  could  not  get  to  Springfield,  came  back. 

Thursday  set  out  again,  got  back.  The  mob 
attempted  to  march  into  Springfield,  the  govern- 
ment fired  the  cannon  killed  four. 

Friday  morning  one  Lock  (that  has  lived  here 
ever  since  last  April)  set  out  with  Mr.  Phelps  for 
Springfield.     I  hear  they  got  in  safe. 


82  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

January  28.     Mr.  Hopkins  preached  Prov.  19  21. 

This  lias  been  a  confused  day.  The  Mob  in  a 
large  body  at  Northampton  another  party  at  Am- 
herst. Just  as  the  meeting  was  done,  the  North- 
ampton Body  came  into  the  lower  end  of  Hadley 
street  marched  through  to  Amherst.  What  will 
be  the  event  none  can  tell.  We  hope  in  God's 
mercy.     Just  at  dusk  my  Husband  got  home. 

Monday.  Gen.  Lincoln  came  into  Hadley  with 
about  three  thousand  men. 

Tuesday.  Mr.  Phelps  carried  the  children  into 
town  to  see  'em." 

"  Saturday  evening  David  Johnson  and  Joseph 
Lock  came  home  from  the  Army." 

"February  4:th,  Sunday  a  confused  time  the 
Troops  marched  last  Eve,  the  stores  and  baggage 
this  day.  Monday  Mr.  Phelps  set  out  with  some 
loadings  belonging  to  the  Army,  went  to  Peters- 
ham.    Tuesday  home." 

"February  21st.  Went  to  Hatfield  to  the  fu- 
neral of  one  Walker  killed  by  the  insurgents ;  — 
he  was  buried  with  the  Honours  of  War." 

"  March  2d.  Dr.  Porter,  two  gentlemen  of  the 
army." 

"March  22d.  Tuesday.  Fast-day  called;  but 
not  one  word  of  fast  in  the  Proclamation  only  Hu- 
miliation and  Prayer.  I  view  it  and  keep  it  as 
fast." 

"March  24th.  Mr.  Phelps  set  out  for  Boston 
to  do  Business  for  a  great  number  of  the  inhabit- 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  83 

ants  of  this  Town  respecting  pay  for  quartering  the 
soldiers  here." 

The  visit  of  General  Lincoln  to  Hadley,  and  its 
mention  in  the  diary,  are  of  moment  to  those  of 
his  descendants  now  living  under  the  old  roof-tree. 

A  major-general  in  the  war  of  Revolution,  the 
intimate  friend  and  trusted  adviser  of  the  great 
Washington,  a  statesman  whose  integrity  was  un- 
impeachable and  whose  morals  were  unsullied,  he 
has  been  honored  and  revered  by  his  own  and  suc- 
ceeding generations.  He  was  appointed  the  first 
minister  of  war,  an  office  involving,  at  that  time, 
much  that  was  both  delicate  and  difficult,  but  which 
he  faithfully  administered.  In  his  other  positions 
also,  under  government,  he  uniformly  sought  the 
highest  good  of  the  nation,  making  it  paramount  to 
any  private  interest  or  ambition. 

In  the  period  of  tranquillity  which  followed  the 
Revolutionary  war,  and  its  subsequent  disturbances, 
Charles  Phelps  found  ample  field  for  action  in  the 
affairs  of  the  town  and  the  Commonwealth.  He 
was  for  many  years  a  Representative  at  the  General 
Court,  a  selectman,  a  justice  of  the  peace.  As  com- 
missioner of  highways  he  traveled  all  over  the 
countryside,  laying  out  roads  and  superintending 
the  construction  of  bridges.  In  the  early  days  of 
the  war  he  had  sent  supplies  to  Cambridge  for  the 
army,  and  frequently  accompanied  these  expeditions. 
Even  in  middle  age,  a  day's  journey  of  sixty  miles 
in  the  saddle  was  no  fatigue  to  him. 


84  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

We  learn  from  the  diary  that  his  wife  often 
accompanied  him  to  Boston,  when  they  traveled  in 
their  own  chaise. 

"February  15,  1787.  Went  to  Cambridge. 
Drank  tea  at  Mr.  Gannet's." 

It  may  have  been  mth  some  idea  of  sendmg  their 
son  to  Dartmouth  that  in  1788  they  took  a  trip 
to  Hanover.  The  visit  was  much  enjoyed.  She 
writes  that  they  took  tea  at  one  of  the  professors' 
houses,  were  received  with  much  attention,  and 
"  saw  the  curiosities." 

Young  Moses,  who  afterwards  took  the  name  of 
Charles  for  his  father  and  paternal  grandfather,  was 
entered  at  Harvard,  always  at  that  time  spoken  of 
as  Cambridge  College.  After  graduating  he  studied 
law  with  Chief  Justice  Parsons,  and  married  into 
his  family.  Visits  from  his  parents  at  his  Boston 
home  were  the  occasion  of  a  round  of  tea-drinkings 
among  the  new  relatives  in  Charles,  Summer,  and 
Tremont  streets. 

Two  or  three  times  Mrs.  Phelps  mentions  that 
they  "  went  to  the  Play." 

Public  affairs  did  not  interfere  with  the  Squire's 
care  of  his  own  estate.  He  had  doubled  the  acre- 
age, and  as  early  as  1770  the  property  was  rated 
highest  on  the  list  in  Hadley,  with  one  exception. 

Various  industries  were  carried  on  in  connection 
with  the  farm.  At  the  falls  near  by  was  a  grist- 
mill ;  a  tannery  stood  at  the  foot  of  Pleasant  Hill ; 
there  was  a  blacksmith's  shop,  with  buildings  for 
stabling,  storage,  etc. 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG   AGO.  85 

In  the  river  were  extensive  fisheries  of  salmon  and 
shad. 

1783,  May  17th.  Mrs.  Phelps  says :  "  Rode  up 
to  the  fish  place  to  see  our  fish." 

It  is  said  that  at  one  time  salmon  were  so  plenty 
that  the  shad  were  of  no  account,  and  were  thrown 
back  into  the  water.  It  was  even  considered  disre- 
putable to  eat  them,  as  indicating  poverty.  Mr. 
Judd  has  an  anecdote  of  a  family  who,  when  they 
were  surprised  at  dinner  by  some  visitor,  hid  the 
shad  under  the  table. 

There  is  another  story,  that  Colonel  Porter  and 
his  wife,  being  secretly  fond  of  the  dish,  gave  their 
negro  man  private  instructions  to  put  a  shad  under 
his  coat  and  bring  it  away  when  no  one  was  looking. 

When  shad  rose  in  value  they  brought  a  penny 
apiece.  The  fishing  place  at  Forty  Acres  was  one 
of  the  principal  on  the  river,  and  was  the  scene  of 
much  youthful  gayety  and  life. 

"  As  a  means  of  transportation  of  goods,  farm 
products,  and  lumber,  the  river  was  of  much  impor- 
tance. In  the  early  part  of  the  season,  almost  every 
day  would  witness  the  floating  down  of  one  or  more 
of  those  sleepy,  easy-going  structures  called  rafts, 
the  only  care  necessary  being  to  keep  in  deep  water 
and  go  with  the  current. 

How  I  did  envy  the  delicious  leisure  of  those 
lumbermen !  They  had  indeed  a  few  boards  for 
oars,  but  they  were  of  very  little  use,  judging  from 
appearances,  as  they  glided  past  near  us  poor  fellows 


86  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

sweatiiiar  in  the  cornfields.  But  the  '  fall-boats,'  as 
they  were  called,  were  pretentious  aftairs.  They 
were  long  and  flat-bottomed,  and  carried  a  mast 
with  two  sails.  If  not  pictui'esque,  they  gave  life  to 
the  river,  and  we  missed  them  when  they  were 
superseded  by  the  railroad  car. 

Since  recalling  the  incidents  of  early  life  con- 
nected Avith  Mt.  Warner,  and  comparing  them  with 
others  associated  with  the  Connecticut  River,  I  have 
been  impressed  with  the  difference  between  them  as 
factors  in  my  life  experience. 

If  there  was  an  air  of  reticence  and  mystery 
about  those  wooded  solitudes  ;  if  the  life  lived  there 
was  grave,  uniform,  and  quiet,  —  the  very  reverse 
of  this  was  true  of  the  river.  In  the  mnter,  indeed, 
it  was  cold  and  silent,  not  half  as  companionable  as 
the  forest,  but  in  the  summer  season  all  its  life  was 
on  the  surface.  It  was  lovely,  sociable,  or  saucy, 
foaming  with  rage  or  rippling  with  laughter,  as  the 
wind  and  skies  played  with  its  caj^rices. 

I  think  my  earliest  recollections  connected  with 
the  river  were  in  passing  over  the  old  arched  bridge 
about  one  fourth  of  a  mile  below  the  house.  It  was 
not  then  considered  safe  to  drive  over  it  faster  than 
a  walk,  but  it  was  a  beautiful  object  in  the  land- 
scape, with  its  graceful  arches  reaching  from  pier  to 
pier,  the  flooring  following  the  course  of  the  arches. 
And  when  at  length  they  began  to  fall  away  one  by 
one  at  intervals,  its  picturesque  effects  were  rather 
heightened  than  otherwise. 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  87 

It  was  said  that  when  the  bridge  was  finished, 
Dr.  Lyman,  of  Hatfield,  preached  on  the  occasion, 
and  delivered  himself  of  the  opinion  that,  in  view  of 
such  improvement,  the  millennium  could  not  be  far 
in  the  future. 

Speaking  of  the  bridge  reminds  me  of  the  sport 
of  ^  going  in  swimming,'  as  we  used  to  call  bathing. 

The  boys  would  join  forces,  and,  since  the  river 
flats  back  of  the  house  were  not  favorable  for  diving, 
we  used  to  resort  to  the  bridge.  By  swimming  over 
to  the  first  pier,  a  good  divmg-place  could  be  found, 
and  thither  they  would  go  hke  a  flock  of  ducks,  for 
it  was  deep  water  all  the  way  over. 

Before  I  had  learned  to  swim,  my  brother  used 
sometimes  to  want  to  carry  me  on  his  back  over  to 
the  pier.  I  used  to  require  the  most  solemn  assur- 
ance he  would  not  play  me  false,  and  he  never  did. 
So,  persuading  me  to  put  my  arms  about  his  neck, 
he  would  launch  out  and  carry  me  over  to  the  pier. 
Likely  enough  he  would  tease  me  awhile  with  the 
fear  I  should  be  left  there,  but  he  never  had  a 
thouo-ht  of  that. 

O  simple,  unhesitating,  buoyant  faith  of  child- 
hood !  How  often  have  I  since  prayed  that  when 
called  to  make  the  passage  from  this  to  the  world 
beyond,  I  may  have  a  like  trust  in  our  Divine  Elder 
Brother,  that  He  would  carry  me  safely  over." 

A  description  of  the  Forty  Acres  Farm,  in  its 
period  of  greatest  prosperity,  has  often  been  referred 
to   in  local   histories  and  biographies.     It  is  to  be 


88  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

found  amons:  the  writinos  of  Dr.  Timothv  Dwio-ht, 
a  orrandsoii  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  who  was  born  in 
Northampton.  It  is  related  that  three  Timothys  in 
direct  succession  —  Colonel  Timothy,  Major  Timo- 
thy, and  President  Timothy  —  at  one  thne  all  raked 
hay  together  in  the  same  meadow. 

Of  Colonel  Timothy,  the  story  goes  that  he  once 
threw  a  stone  not  only  across  the  Connecticut  at 
Northampton,  at  a  point  where  it  was  forty  rods 
from  shore  to  shore,  but  thirty  rods  beyond,  in  all 
1,165  feet. 

Of  President  Dwight's  early  years  it  is  told  that 
he  learned  the  alphabet  at  a  single  lesson,  read  the 
Bible  fluently  at  four,  and  commenced  the  study  of 
Latin  at  six.  He  entered  Yale  College  in  1765, 
when  he  had  just  completed  his  thirteenth  year. 
He  became  a  tutor  at  the  a^e  of  nineteen,  was  later 
admitted  to  the  ministry,  and  served  as  a  chaplain 
in  the  Revolutionary  war.  After  some  years  spent 
in  teaching,  during  which  he  supported  his  mother 
and  brothers  and  sisters,  he  became  pastor  of  a 
Connecticut  parish,  and  subsequently  the  successor 
of  Dr.  Stiles  as  president  of  Yale.  His  biographer 
says  of  him  :  — 

"  A  nobler  example  of  a  well-balanced  mind  is 
not  to  be  found,  perhaps,  than  Washington.  Dr. 
Dwiglit,  with  far  more  of  the  imaginative  and  bril- 
liant than  belonged  to  the  Father  of  his  Country, 
possessed  the  same  well-proportioned  intellectual 
character    for  which   he  was   distinguished."      His 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  89 

influence  over  his  pupils,  of  whom  a  large  number 
became  leading  men,  was  very  marked.  Of  his 
breadth  of  view  in  religious  matters,  unusual  com- 
pared with  many  ministers  at  that  time,  the  follow- 
ing anecdote  is  told  :  — 

"  A  young  clergyman,  since  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished in  New  England,  called  upon  him ;  and 
to  an  inquii'y  which  the  doctor  made  concerning  the 
state  of  reHgion  in  his  neighborhood  he  replied,  as 
an  evidence  of  its  being  in  a  flourishing  state,  that 
the  distinguishing  doctrines  of  the  gospel  were 
faithfully  preached.  '  That  is  well,'  replied  the  doc- 
tor, '  but  are  the  duties  of  the  gospel  preached 
also?'" 

Among  his  many  works,  one  of  those  most  inter- 
esting at  the  present  day  is  the  book  of  "  Travels." 
This  collection  of  letters  contains  descriptions  of  his 
journeys  through  New  England  and  New  York 
State  at  the  close  of  the  last  century  and  the  be- 
ginning of  the  present.  It  abounds  in  carefuUy 
noted  observations  on  the  country  he  visited,  inter- 
spersed mth  items  of  biography  and  history ;  and 
reflections,  which  are  most  valuable  as  indicating  the 
mind  and  temper  of  the  writer.  His  descriptions  are 
full  and  accurate. 

In  portraying  the  beautiful  view  from  Mt.  Hol- 
yoke,  familiar  to  travelers,  he  says  :  — 

"  Meadows  are  here  seen,  containing  from  five  to 
five  hundred  acres,  interspersed  with  beautiful  and 
lofty  forest  trees,  rising   everywhere   at   little    dis- 


90  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

tances,  and  at  times  with  orchards  of  considerable 
extent,  and  covered  with  exquisite  verdure.  Here 
spread,  also,  vast  expanses  of  arable  ground,  in  which 
the  different  lots  exactly  resemble  garden-beds,  dis- 
tinguishable from  each  other  only  by  different  kinds 
of  vegetation,  and  exhibiting  all  its  varied  hues, 
from  the  dark  green  of  the  maize  to  the  brilliant 
gold  of  the  barley. 

One  range  of  these  lots  is  separated  from  an- 
other by  a  straight  road,  running  Hke  an  alley,  from 
one  to  two  miles  in  length,  with  here  and  there  a 
brook  or  mill-stream  winding  through  the  whole. 

A  perfect  neatness  and  brilliancy  is  everywhere 
diffused ;  without  a  neglected  spot  to  tarnish  the 
lustre,  or  excite  a  wish  in  the  mind  for  a  higher  fin- 
ish. All  these  objects  united  present  a  collection  of 
beauties  to  which  I  know  no  parallel. 

When  the  eye  traces  this  majestic  stream,  mean- 
dermg  with  a  singular  course  through  these  delight- 
ful fields,  wandering  in  one  place  five  miles  to  gain 
seventy  yards,  inclosing,  almost  immediately  beneath, 
an  island  of  twenty  acres,  exquisite  in  its  form  and 
verdure,  and  adorned  on  the  northern  end  with  a 
beautiful  grove,  forcing  its  way  between  these  moun- 
tains, exhibiting  itself  like  a  vast  canal  six  or  eight 
miles  below  them,  and  occasionally  reappearing  at 
greater  and  greater  distances  in  its  passage  to  the 
ocean ;  when  it  marks  the  sprightly  towns  which 
rise  upon  its  banks,  and  the  numerous  churches 
which  gem  the  whole  landscape  in  its  neighborhood  ; 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG   AGO.  91 

when  it  explores  the  lofty  forests  wildly  contrasted 
with  the  rich  scene  of  cultivation  which  it  has  just 
examined,  and  presenting  all  the  varieties  of  wood- 
land vegetation ;  when  it  ascends  higher,  and  marks 
the  perpetually  varying  and  undulating  arches  of 
the  hills,  the  points  and  crowns  of  the  nearer  and 
detached  mountains,  and  the  long-continued  ranges 
of  the  more  distant  ones,  particularly  of  the  Green 
Mountains,  receding  northward  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  eye ;  when,  last  of  all,  it  fastens  upon  the  Mo- 
nadnock  in  the  northeast,  and  in  the  northwest  upon 
Saddle  Mountain,  ascending  each  at  the  distance  of 
fifty  miles,  in  dim  and  misty  grandeur,  far  above  all 
other  objects  in  view,  —  it  will  be  difficult  not  to 
say  that,  with  these  exquisite  varieties  of  beauty  and 
gTandeur,  the  relish  for  the  landscape  is  filled, 
neither  a  wish  for  higher  perfection,  nor  an  idea 
what  it  is,  remaining  in  the  mind. 

Among  the  interesting  objects  in  this  neighbor- 
hood, the  farm  of  Charles  Phelps,  Esq.,  about  two 
miles  north  of  this  town,  deserves  the  notice  of  a 
traveler.  This  estate  lies  on  the  eastern  bank  of 
the  Connecticut  River,  and  contains  about  six  hun- 
dred acres,  of  which  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
are  intervale,  annually  manured  by  the  slime  of  the 
river. 

The  rest  consists  partly  of  a  rich  plain,  and  partly 
of  the  sides  and  summits  of  Mt.  Warner,  a  beauti- 
ful hill  in  the  neighborhood.  The  intervale  is 
universally  meadow,  and  of  the  best  quality.      The 


92  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

reniJiiiider  of  the  farm  is  remarkably  well-fitted  for 
every  kind  of  produce  suited  to  the  cHmate,  abounds 
in  pasture,  and  yields  an  inexhaustible  supply  of 
timber  and  fuel.  It  is  also  furnished  with  every 
other  convenience. 

On  one  border  are  excellent  mills  ;  on  another  a 
river,  furnishing  a  cheap  transportation  to  market. 
It  is  intersected  by  two  great  roads,  leading  to 
Boston  and  to  Hartford.  A  bridge  crosses  Con- 
necticut River  one  fourth  of  a  mile  below  the  house. 
Within  two  miles  is  the  church  in  Hadley.  The 
country  around  it  is  highly  improved,  and  the  in- 
habitants inferior  to  those  of  few  places  of  the  same 
extent  in  their  habits  and  character. 

The  scenery,  both  near  and  distant,  is  eminently 
delightful,  and  within  very  convenient  distance  all 
the  pleasures  of  refined  and  intelligent  society  may 
,^e  easily  enjoyed.  In  a  word  this  estate  is  the  most 
desirable  possession  of  the  same  kind  and  extent, 
T^dthin  my  knowledge." 

President  Dwiglit  described  Hadley  and  its  sur- 
roundings with  the  familiarity  of  many  years'  ac- 
quaintance. A  close  relation,  through  the  Edwards 
family,  with  Lawyer  Porter's  household,  made  him 
a  frequent  visitor.  He  was  accustomed  to  preach 
for  Mr.  Hopkins,  also  a  connection.  Of  one  of 
these  occasions  we  find  that  the  family  chronicle 
makes  particular  mention  :  — 

"May  13,  1798.  Mr.  Dwight,  Pres.  of  New 
Haven  College,  Lawyer  Porter  and  wife  (and  others) 
all  drank  tea  here." 


A   DIARY    OF    LONG   AGO.  93 

By  the  dates  we  may  conjecture  that  it  was  on 
this  same  ^asit  to  the  old  mansion  that  President 
Dwight  became  impressed  with  the  beauty,  virtue, 
and  high  character  of  the  daughter  of  the  house. 
Ehzabeth  Phelps  was  at  this  time  nineteen  years 
of  age.  There  is  a  portrait  which  represents  her 
dressed  in  a  short-waisted  white  gown,  her  brown 
hair  in  a  mass  of  curls  on  the  top  of  her  head ;  with 
dark  eyes,  a  long  upper  lip,  a  firm  chin. 

The  rude  hand  of  the  country  artist  failed  to  give 
that  expression  to  the  countenance  which  would 
endow  it  with  soul  and  character,  but  the  cast  of 
feature  marks  unmistakably  decision,  -will,  refine- 
ment. There  are  also  such  striking  points  of  re- 
semblance to  her  descendants  of  the  j^i'esent  day 
that  one  cannot  doubt  that  the  picture  in  its  outHnes 
was  a  faithful  likeness. 

From  knowledge  of  her  character  as  it  develoj^ed 
in  later  years,  one  may  read  penetration  in  the  eye, 
severity  in  the  mouth,  intellect  in  the  brow.  If 
there  is  latent  melancholy  in  the  expression,  the 
light  in  the  eyes  betrays  quick  humor ;  the  lines  in 
the  face  indicate  sympathy,  aspiration,  affection. 

With  the  advantages  of  a  trained  mind,  a  culti- 
vated taste,  natural  dignity,  and  the  sprightliness  of 
youth,  it  is  no  wonder  that  she  made  an  impression 
upon  the  fancy  even  of  an  elderly  college  dominie. 
His  estimate  of  her  character,  as  it  was  afterwards 
expressed,  is  the  more  flattering  because,  in  his 
visits  to  the  metropolis,  he  finds  occasion  for  ex- 


94:  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

trerae  censure  on  the  prevailing  manners  and  con- 
versation of  the  young-  people  he  met. 

Returning,  however,  to  New  Haven,  he  not  only 
recalled  the  attractions  of  Miss  Phelps,  but  depicted 
them  in  fflowino-  terms  to  one  of  his  favorite  tutors. 
Urging  upon  him  the  prudence  of  selecting  a  suit- 
able helpmeet,  he  advised  him  to  visit  Hadley  and 
seek  an  introduction  to  the  Squire's  daughter.  For 
charm  of  person  and  of  character  he  esteemed  her 
without  a  rival. 

That  his  advice  should  have  been  so  favorably 
received,  we  know  not  wdiether  to  attribute  to  the 
respect  Avhich  the  young  clergyman  entertamed  for 
the  opinion  of  his  honored  president,  or  to  the  effect 
made  upon  him  by  the  picture  drawn. 

He  was  at  that  very  time  entertaining  the  offer 
of  a  parish  in  one  of  the  j^rosperous  Connecticut 
towns.  Such  a  home  needed  a  wife  to  complete  its 
attractions.  With  the  acceptance  of  the  settlement, 
the  young  minister  turned  his  attention  to  the 
selection  of  a  companion.  Six  months  after  the  tea- 
drinking,  at  which  President  Dwight  was  a  guest, 
comes  the  folloA\4ng  enti-y  :  — 

"  January  13,  1799.  Mr.  Huntington  Pastor  of 
Litchfield  preached,"  and  a  day  or  two  after,  "  Mr. 
Huntington  drank  tea  here." 

In  the  next  May,  there  was  another  visit  from 
President  Dwight,  perhaps  to  offer  congratulations 
on  the  becoming  manner  in  which  his  counsel  was 
received.     It  is  said,  however,  that  the  young  lady, 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG    AGO.  95 

with  strict  Puritan  reserve,  would  never  admit  that 
there  was  an  engagement.  In  spite  of  that,  the 
parsonage  at  Litchfield  was  made  ready,  and  the 
wedding  took  place  New  Year's  Day,  1801,  in  the 
Long  Room  of  the  old  house,  where  a  party  of  rela- 
tives and  friends  were  assembled.  The  journey  to 
the  new  home  was  made  through  the  snow  in  a 
sleigh.  Teams  were  sent  on  before,  containing  the 
bride's  belongings  and  the  substantial  outfit  which 
her  father  provided  for  housekeeping. 

After  this,  the  diary  records  frequent  expeditions 
to  Litchfield.  This  town  was  the  residence  of  many 
families  of  distinction,  and  noted  for  its  refined  and 
hearty  hospitality.  Tea-drinkings  and  other  enter- 
tainments occurred  with  frequency  in  honor  of 
guests  from  abroad.  Names  well  known  to  this 
day  in  Connecticut  are  often  found  in  the  diary  on 
the  occasion  of  Mrs.  Phelps's  long  visits  at  the  par- 
sonage. 

From  this  time  her  private  diary  is  supplemented 
by  letters,  in  good  preservation,  written  by  the  affec- 
tionate and  anxious  mother  to  her  dauo^hter.  The 
anticipation  of  visits  to  Litchfield  was  always  joy- 
ful. The  journey  from  Hadley  was  once  performed 
by  carriage  in  a  single  day,  but  usually  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Phelps  stayed  over  night  with  friends  or  rela- 
tives at  Westfield  or  Hartford.  In  a  season  when 
the  roads  were  very  bad,  it  was  taken  partly  on  a 
pilhon. 

Returning  home  after  the  first  visit  to  the  young 
couple  the  month  after  the  wedding :  — 


96  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    KOOF-TREE. 

"February  7,  1801.  Got  home  about  twelve, 
found  all  things  very  clever  (but  no  Betsey)  for 
which  I  hope  we  are  very  thankful." 

Mrs.  Phelps's  home  was  now  in  many  respects 
altered.  Her  mother  had  died  two  years  before ; 
her  only  son  and  an  adopted  daughter  Thankful 
were  both  married.  Her  vigor  of  character,  how- 
ever, and  her  cheerful  disposition,  grew  only  more 
marked  as  old  age  came  on  and  changes  occurred. 
At  the  age  of  fifty-nine  she  writes  after  an  ill- 
ness :  — 

"  Took  physic  and  consulted  the  family  physician 
all  to  no  purjjose ;  suspected  the  disorder  to  be 
nervous  ;  tact'd  about,  put  on  great  resolution,  and 
made  mince  pies,  and  really  found  myself  no  worse 
than  days  before." 

To  her  husband,  whose  mood  was  reserved  and 
inclined  to  melancholy,  she  writes  :  — 

"  Your  last  seems  a  little  low-spirited,  the  others 
do  very  well.  I  could  feel  in  the  dumps  too,  if  I 
dare,  but  that  ^vill  never  do." 

To  her  daughter  :  "  Betsey,  put  on  patience  — 
let  it  have  its  perfect  work ;  if  you  get  extremely 
worn  out  perhaps  I  had  better  spel  you  awhile." 

"  Put  on  courage  "  was  her  favorite  saying,  and 
might  have  been  her  life  motto.  With  advancing 
years  she  relaxed  nothing  of  her  native  energy. 
When  over  sixty  she  rode  to  the  top  of  Mt.  Hol- 
yoke  on  horseback  under  the  guidance  of  her  son. 
She  speaks  of   "  the  care  of  this  great  house   and 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG   AGO.  97 

farm,"  and  of  rising  with  the  dawn  to  superintend 
the  butter-making  in  hot  weather,  of  setting  "  forty 
dozen  candles  to  dip,"  of  making  sausages  and 
cheese. 

In  one  absence,  her  careful  mind  sends  the  fol- 
lowing charges  to  her  husband  :  — 

"  There  are  two  pies  on  the  lower  shelf  in  the  old 
closet  which  you  had  better  eat  —  and  the  key  of 
the  S.  W.  chamber  is  in  my  stocking  drawer,  at  the 
S.  W.  corner,  if  you  should  have  smart  folks  to 
lodge  you  might  want  it." 

Visits  from  relatives  and  friends  still  occur  with 
frequency. 

On  one  occasion,  somewhat  earlier,  we  find  re- 
corded :  — 

"In  the  afternoon  came  above  twenty  visitors 
from  ten  different  towns." 

An  old  letter  (1839)  says :  "  Sometimes  there 
seems  to  be  a  simultaneous  movement  among  our 
friends  and  they  come  to  us  in  swarms.  Our  com- 
pany has  been  gradually  accumulating  until  yester- 
day afternoon,  when  it  became  quite  overwhelming. 
Our  friends  (I  speak  more  particularly  of  the  female 
part)  seemed  determined  to  come  at  all  events,  and 
if  they  could  not  get  a  man  to  drive,  they  would 
come  without.  Such  a  collection  of  chaises,  bug- 
gies and  wagons  of  all  descriptions  you  seldom  see 
collected  together.  There  were  the  old  and  young, 
the  beautiful  and  the  plain,  the  rich  and  poor,  high 
and  low,  met  together.     I  was  told  that  two  rooms 


98  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

were  occupied  for  a  considerable  part  of  the  after- 
noon." 

"  The  Mansion  of  our  Forefathers,"  as  Mrs. 
Phelps  calls  it;  seems  to  have  been  always  the  scene 
of  a  generous  hospitahty.  As  the  grandchildren 
grew  up,  they  were  warmly  welcomed  and  tenderly 
cared  for.  The  whole  family  of  the  son  or  daughtei- 
was  often  entertained. 

Her  simple  nature  seldom  takes  heed  of  anything 
worldly,  but  after  a  visit  to  Boston  she  writes  to 
Betsey :  — 

"  Daughter  Sally  has  had  her  Aunt  Parsons' 
bracelets  sent  her  since  her  Aunt's  death.  The  day 
before  we  came  away  she  had  her  aunt's  muff  and 
tippet,  cost  $120  in  Russia." 

This  and  an  allusion  to  the  remodeling  of  a  gown 
by  a  city  dressmaker  are  almost  the  only  references 
to  outside  appearance. 

She  frequently  takes  herself  to  task  for  short- 
comings in  the  control  of  temper  and  the  perform- 
ance of  duties.  A  more  wholesome,  unaffected 
piety  it  would  be  difficult  to  find.  Her  interest 
in  friends  and  neighbors  never  weakens ;  her  solici- 
tude for  the  members  of  her  own  household  does 
not  fail. 

Sometimes,  after  a  long  and  busy  day,  she  sits 
down  to  write  by  the  lamplight,  in  the  "  Long 
Room,"  where  she  may  be  undisturbed.  Her  hus- 
band, on  such  occasions,  was  away  from  home  on 
business.     One  of  his  great  interests  connected  with 


FIREPLACE    IN    THE    LONG    ROOM 


A    DIARY    OF    LONG   AGO.  99 

church  affairs,  in  which  he  was  always  prominent, 
was  the  erection  of  a  new  meeting-house.  Of  this 
he  superintended  every  detail,  from  the  hauling  of 
the  lumber  to  the  disposal  of  the  pews. 

The  building  is  spoken  of  by  President  Dwight 
as  a  "  handsome  structure,  superior  to  any  other  in 
this  country." 

It  was  afterwards  removed  from  West  Street  to 
the  Middle  Street,  where  it  now  stands. 

Among  matters  of  general  concern  mentioned 
from  time  to  time,  we  find  the  follomng  reference 
to  a  peculiarly  trying  summer,  that  of  1805. 

After  a  refreshing  rain  on  August  1st,  she 
writes  :  — 

"  No  rain  to  wet  the  ground  from  June  9th,  eight 
weeks.  Already  the  face  of  nature  is  changed.  0 
God  I  thank  thee,  we  feel  our  dependence,  and  now 
Lord  may  we  feel  gratitude." 

Except  for  violent  headaches,  there  is  little  men- 
tion of  illness,  and  no  indication  of  faihng  health 
up  to  the  last  date  in  the  diary.  That  occurs  1812, 
April  5,  Lord's  Day. 

"Thursday,  Fast  Day.  Mr.  Woodbridge.  2 
Timothy  3,  1,  2,  3,  &  4  verses.  ^  This  know  that 
in  the  last  days  perilous  times  shall  come.'  Satt. 
sent  letter  to  Betsey." 

Her  death  took  place  in  November,  1817,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-nine.  She  survived  her  husband  three 
years. 

At  the  close  of  such  a  long  and  honorable  life 


100  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

it  is  interesting'  to  recall  an  anecdote  told  of  her 
when  only  four  or  five  years  old  :  ''  During  the  last 
illness  of  her  grandmother,  the  child  was  found 
alone  in  a  retired  room,  repeating  aloud  the  old 
hymn  of  which  this  is  one  of  the  stanzas :  — 

'  Lord,  if  thou  lengthen  out  my  days, 
Then  shall  my  heart  so  fixed  be 
That  I  may  lengthen  out  thy  praise, 
And  never  turn  aside  from  thee.' " 


LATER  LIFE  IN  THE  OLD  MANSION. 

I  see  .  .  . 

The  hills  curve  loimd  like  a  bended  bow,  .  .  . 

And  round  and  round,  over  valley  and  hill. 

Old  roads  winding,  as  old  roads  will. 

Here  to  a  ferry,  and  there  to  a  mill ; 

And  glimpses  of  chimneys,  and  gabled  eaves. 

Through  green  elm  arches  and  maple  leaves,  — 

Old  homesteads,  sacred  to  all  that  can 

Gladden  or  sadden  the  heart  of  man, — 

Over  whose  thresholds  of  oak  and  stone 

Life  and  Death  have  come  and  gone  ! 

J.  G.  Whittier. 

By  the  year  1816  a  fine  family  of  sons  and 
daughters  was  growing  up  in  the  Connecticut  par- 
sonage, but  country  salaries  were  in  those  days  no 
more  adequate  than  they  are  now  to  meet  the  in- 
creasing expenses  of  such  a  household.  The  minis- 
ter himself  thus  describes  his  circumstances  :  — 

'*  Here  I  am,  then,  planted  down  in  social  life 
with  a  fair  prospect  of  usefulness,  in  a  companion- 
ship every  way  conducive  to  domestic  comfort  and 
every  earthly  enjoyment.  Happy  could  it  have  been 
continued.  It  was  ordered  otherwise.  My  dependence 
for  support  was  the  settlement  (^1,000)  and  four 
liundred  dollars  salary.  The  offer  was  made  before 
my  leaving  New  Haven.       My  friends  there  told  me 


102  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

I  could  never  live  upon  it.  I  told  them  their  prom- 
ises at  Litchfield  were  fair  in  case  of  insufficiency. 

Dr.  Dwight,  I  remember,  told  me  a  story,  as  he 
often  did,  of  a  Northampton  man,  I  believe  it  was  a 
Mr.  Lyman.  The  man  had  a  son  much  in  the  same 
predicament  as  I  was.  His  father  asked  him  if  he 
could  live  upon  the  salary  offered  him.  He  replied, 
'  Father,  the  people  are  very  able,  and  very  gener- 
ous ;  it  is  a  country  town  ;  thirty  or  forty  professional 
characters ;  schools  of  every  grade ;  great  geniuses 
among  them ;  and  they  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
making  liberal  presents  to  their  former  minister,  and 
doubtless  will  continue  them.'  His  father's  reply  was 
'  Bind  'em,  John.'  '  They  will  supply  me  with  fire- 
wood, father,  as  they  have  always  been  in  the  habit 
of  doing  for  their  minister,  —  of  course.'  '  Bind 
'em,  John.'  '  But,  father,  they  have  to  pay  their 
former  minister,  now  worn  out  with  age  and  faithful 
services,  his  whole  salary,  which  was  only  o£100 
($333.33),  from  which  they  expect  soon  to  be  re- 
leased, and  which  they  say  can  just  as  well  be  added 
to  mine  as  not  if  I  survive.'  The  reply  still  was, 
^  Bind  'em,  John.' 

How  it  came  out  with  John  I  cannot  say.  My 
OAvn  case,  very  similar,  I  shall  not  soon  forget ;  and  it 
will  be  well  for  us  all  not  to  forget  the  old  proverb, 
'  A  bird  in  the  hand  is  worth  two  in  the  bush  ; '  and 
another  we  all  remember  :  ^  They  that  wait  for  dead 
men's  shoes  may  go  barefoot.'  For  years  the  sup- 
port of  my  family  was  eked  out  by  bountiful  contri- 


LATER    LIFE    IN    THE    OLD    MANSION.  103 

butions  from  abroad,  as  well  as  at  home,  particularly 
from  '  Forty  Acres.' 

My  wife  had  parents,  blessed  be  the  memory  of 
their  generous  souls !  who  from  their  abundance 
would  not  suffer  their  daughter  for  a  day  to  live  in 
want  of  comforts  appropriate  to  her  station,  and 
which  they  were  able  to  afford  her.  As  the  wants 
of  an  increasing-  family  required,  wagon-loads  and 
sleigh-loads  of  things  necessary  to  the  body  were 
sent  us  gratuitously,  from  year  to  year,  above  sev- 
enty miles.  To  say  nothing  of  my  own  feelings,  my 
people  seemed  too  Avell  pleased  with  it  to  suit  my 
notion.  I  have  ever  felt  bound  to  support  my  family 
honorably,  and  nobody  that  I  ever  heard  of  ever  ac- 
cused us  of  any  extravagance.  .  .  .  Within  a  year 
from  leaving  Litchfield,  I  was  settled  in  Middletown. 

After  trying  awhile,  without  any  particular  mis- 
fortune, I  found  that  my  income  did  not  meet  the 
expenses  of  an  increasing  establishment,  in  the  style 
of  city  life. 

I  asked  again  for  an  honorable  dismission,  which 
I  obtained  without  difficulty.  I  found  a  pleasant  re- 
treat on  the  patrimony  of  my  wife.  We  came  to 
Hadley  to  reside  in  1816.  Our  mother,  Mrs.  Phelps, 
who  had  been  a  widow  about  two  years,  survived  her 
husband  from  this  time  about  as  long;." 

For  many  years  the  old  home  was  now  overflow- 
ing with  the  vigor  and  gayety  of  young  life.  After 
the  eldest  had  gone  out  into  the  world,  the  eleventh 
child  was  born,  the  youngest  of  seven  sons  who 
grew  up  to  manhood. 


104  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

Although  the  boys  engaged  in  the  work  of  the 
farm,  they  were  all  afforded  excellent  opportunities 
for  study,  and  attended  the  village  academy,  of 
which  their  father  was  for  some  years  preceptor. 
Several  were  thus  fitted  for  college.  The  daughters 
finished  their  education  at  that  excellent  establish- 
ment for  young  women,  Mrs.  Willard's  seminary,  at 
Troy.  Like  their  brothers,  however,  they  took  their 
part  in  the  homely  duties  of  the  household.  One 
of  their  occupations  is  thus  described  :  — 

"  Singing  was  a  favorite  pastime  with  the  sisters, 
and  as  they  had  excellent  voices  they  enlivened 
their  work  with  song.  They  were  good  spinners 
on  the  large  wheel,  and  used  to  have  their  regular 
morning  tasks  in  spinning  woolen  yarn. 

In  the  summer  they  used  to  place  their  wheels  in 
the  corn-house  and  make  it  sing  with  their  music 
until  it  seemed  as  though  every  skein  of  the  yarn 
had  a  thread  of  harmony  woven  into  its  very  fibre. 

I  wonder  if  you  ever  saw  the  process  going  on 
of  spinning  on  the  large  wheel  ?  As  a  gymnastic 
exercise  merely,  it  was  vastly  superior  to  any  mod- 
ern invention.  Dancing  is  vapid  in  comparison, 
because  though  a  graceful  exercise  it  is  purposeless 
except  as  a  selfish  amusement. 

Common  gymnastics  have  a  purpose,  but  as  gen- 
erally practiced  the  means  and  the  end  are  so  indis- 
tinct that  many  do  not  see  it.  But  in  this  matter 
of  spinning  there  is  not  only  variety  of  movement, 
the  unequal  but  measured  tread  backward  and  for- 


LATER    LIFE    IN    THE    OLD    MANSION.  105 

ward,  and  the  independent  action  of  each  arm,  but 
behind  all  there  was  the  purpose  which  gave  power 
to  every  movement.  Very  likely  it  was  owing  to 
the  training*  of  the  large  spinning-wheel,  more  than 
they  imagined,  that  the  matrons  of  a  former  genera- 
tion were  able  to  appear  with  grace  and  dignity  in 
any  sphere  in  which  they  may  have  been  called  to 
move." 

When  the  eldest  sister  was  to  be  married,  her 
trousseau  must  be  provided  at  home. 

"I  suppose  the  fitting  a  daughter  with  her  mar- 
riage portion  was  quite  a  different  thing  when  I  was 
a  boy  from  what  it  is  now.  In  my  sister's  case 
the  linen,  and  I  presume  the  woolens  also,  were 
furnished  from  the  farm. 

I  recollect  very  well  going  over  to  Northampton 
in  company  with  brother  T.  to  drive  a  fat  ox  which 
was  to  help  pay  for  the  outfit,  and  this  payment 
was  added  to  from  time  to  time,  if  I  am  not  mis- 
taken, by  other  products  of  the  farm. 

My  sister  had  the  promise  of  all  the  flax  and 
wool  also,  I  believe,  that  she  could  spin,  to  be  made 
into  fabrics.  I  imagine  this  would  not  be  consid- 
ered much  of  an  offer  now  as  a  part  of  a  marriage 
portion,  but  it  was  gladly  accepted  by  her,  and  I 
doubt  if  the  little  spinning-wheel  ever  knew  a  more 
busy  season  than  that  which  preceded  her  wed- 
ding. 

The  old  north  kitchen  was  her  workroom,  and 
every  sunrise  of   the  week-days  found    her    seated 


106  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

beside  the  wheel,  her  hair  bound  up  tightly  with 
a  kerchief  to  keep  out  the  dust,  her  foot  upon  the 
treadle  with  measured  beat,  her  nimble  fingers  pull- 
ing the  well-combed  flax  from  the  distaff,  and  giv- 
ing it  that  nicety  of  touch  which  should  make  the 
thread  fine  and  even,  before  the  flyer  should  fas- 
ten upon  it  with  its  irrevocable  twist  and  send  it 
to  the  spool. 

I  used  to  rise  early  in  those  days,  and  many  a 
morning  my  first  visit  would  be  to  the  north 
kitchen,  for  no  reason  but  to  catch  sight  of  the 
earnest  figure  and  be  entertained  by  the  lively  hum 
of  the  wheel." 

Besides  the  hours  devoted  to  work  and  play, 
both  boys  and  girls  were  encouraged  at  home  in 
the  cultivation  of  a  Hterary  taste.  It  was  the  cus- 
tom to  spend  their  leisure  time  in  reading.  They 
were  constantly  supplied  with  the  standard  works, 
and  with  publications  of  the  day  in  different  fields 
of  writing,  —  theology,  history,  fiction,  and  biogra- 
phy especially.  The  size  of  the  family  and  the 
distance  from  the  village  had  a  tendency  to  throw 
the  children  together  for  companionship,  and  also 
to  lead  them  to  seek  resources  in  themselves.  In 
this  way  the  home  life  became  a  peculiarly  happy 
one. 

Of  its  simple  pleasures  one  of  them  has  writ- 
ten :  — 

"  To  a  boy  or  girl  on  the  farm,  every  day  brings 
its  fresh  surprises.     The  new  life  in  the  shape  of  a 


LATER    LIFE    IN    THE    OLD    MANSION.  107 

young  calf  or  lamb,  or  brood  of  chickens,  is  always 
a  new  joy,  however  often  repeated,  and  in  spring- 
especially  the  love  of  color,  form,  and  sound  is 
ministered  to  by  spring  flowers,  or  hum  of  insects, 
or  dash  of  butterfly,  or  plumage  and  melody  of 
birds  in  endless  succession.  I  recall  at  this  moment 
some  of  the  early  summer  mornings  in  Hadley. 
How  changed  from  the  night  before  !  It  was  as  if 
a  new  picture  had  been  drawn  by  the  Infinite  Artist 
for  my  especial  pleasure.  Earth  and  sky  are  writ- 
ten over  anew  with  the  finger  of  God,  and  the 
world  exults  in  sunlight  and  song.  Each  object  has 
a  beauty  of  its  own,  fresh,  perfect,  and  inimitable. 
With  me,  too,  this  novelty  pertains  to  the  seasons 
no  less  than  to  the  panorama  of  the  passing  days. 
I  beheve  the  first  note  of  the  robin  or  bluebird  in 
spring  even  now  awakens  a  thrill  not  less  keen  than 
it  did  fifty  years  ago. 

Long  before  the  house-fly  tries  its  wings  on  the 
kitchen  window,  or  the  clover-bud  bursts  its  winter 
sheath,  I  feel  as  though  I  must  anticipate  the  season 
by  dabbling  in  a  small  way  with  plant  life. 

I  imagine  that  some  such  subtle  tie  as  this  keeps 
alive  the  charm  of  rural  life." 

Especially  associated  with  childhood  on  the  old 
farm  was  the  keeping  of  the  annual  Thanksgiving. 
^'  It  was  one  of  the  days  we  reckoned  by,  the  dividing 
line  between  summer  and  winter,  as  well  as  the  days 
of  reunions  and  festivities.  The  season's  work,  as 
far  as  the  land  was  concerned,  was  expected  to  be 


108  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

done  before  Thanksgi\dng  ;  and  indoors,  house-clean- 
ing* with  its  vexations  must  be  well  out  of  the  way. 

The  Avinter  supply  of  apple-sauce  must  have 
been  made  ere  this.  The  apples  from  the  Mt.  War- 
ner orchard  had  been  laid  up,  and  a  generous  quan- 
tity of  the  juice  had  been  boiled  down  to  the  consist- 
ency of  thin  molasses,  with  which  to  sweeten  the 
sauce,  for  our  forefathers  were  economical. 

The  old  cider-mill,  which  had  been  all  the  season 
screeching  its  protest  against  the  sacrilegious  use 
of  one  of  Nature's  best  gifts  by  turning  it  into 
brandy,  had  uttered  its  last  groan,  and  stood  with 
naked  jaws  and  bending  sweep,  a  ghastly  spectacle, 
until  another  season  should  comjjel  a  renewal  of  its 
doleful  cries.  The  apple-paring,  with  its  array  of 
tubs  and  baskets  and  knives  and  jolly  faces  before 
the  bright  kitchen  fire,  was  completed,  with  the 
Hallowe'en  games  of  counting  the  apple  seeds,  and 
throwing  the  paring  over  the  head  to  see  its  trans- 
formation into  the  initials  of  some  fair  maiden. 

The  great  day  for  the  conversion  of  the  apples 
into  sauce  had  lately  come  and  gone,  for  it  must  be 
delayed  as  long  as  possible,  that  it  may  not  ferment 
and  spoil.  The  stout  crane  that  swung  over  the 
huge  fireplace  was  loaded  with  one  or  more  brass 
kettles  filled  with  apples,  sweet  and  sour  in  proper 
proportion,  the  former  being  put  at  the  bottom  be- 
cause they  required  more  time  to  cook.  Sprinkled 
through  the  mass  were  a  few  quinces,  if  they  were 
to  be  had,  to  give  flavor,  while  over  the  whole  was 


LATER    LIFE    IN    THE    OLD    MANSION.  109 

poured  the  pungent  apple  molasses  which  supplied 
the  sweetening.  The  great  danger  was  that  the 
sauce  should  burn  ;  and  to  prevent  this,  some  house- 
wives had  clean  straw  prepared  and  laid  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  kettles,  lest  the  apples  should  come  in  too 
near  contact  with  the  fire.  It  was  an  all-day  pro- 
cess, but  when  completed  an  article  was  produced 
which  was  always  in  order  for  the  table,  and  which, 
if  slightly  frozen,  was  enjoyed  with  a  keener  relish 
than  the  ice-cream  of  the  restaurants  of  to-day. 

I  suppose  every  family  has  its  own  way  of  prepar- 
ing for  and  keeping  Thanksgiving,  but  possibly  the 
children  may  be  interested  to  know  how  their  grand- 
parents kept  it  at  their  age.  Truth  obliges  me  to  tell 
that  it  began,  like  the  old  Jewish  Feast  of  the  Pass- 
over, with  a  great  slaughter,  not  of  lambs,  however, 
but  of  equally  innocent  chickens,  and  —  must  I  con- 
fess it  ?  —  on  the  Sunday  evening  of  Thanksgiving 
week.  I  can  only  say  in  palliation  of  this,  that  it 
was  a  religious  feast,  or,  if  that  does  not  satisfy  the 
humane  instincts  of  the  age,  I  will  add  that  in  those 
days  Sunday  was  universally  regarded  as  beginning 
at  sundown  Saturday  and  ending  on  Sunday. 

Charles  Dudley  Warner  says  that,  though  this 
was  the  theory  practically,  as  far  as  the  young  folks 
were  concerned,  and  perhaps  not  altogether  without 
example  from  their  elders,  the  Sunday  began  at 
candle-lighting  Saturday  and  ended  at  sundown  the 
next  day.  But  Warner,  as  we  know,  is  a  great 
humorist,  and  sometimes  goes  to  the  very  verge  of 


110  UNDEK    A    COLONIAL    KOOF-TREE. 

the  actual  to  make  a  point ;  but,  judged  by  his  own 
representations,  our  fathers  could  hardly  be  called 
Sabbath-breakers  because  the  hen-roosts  were  never 
allowed  to  be  visited  till  after  dark  !  Will  the  law- 
yers admit  my  defense  ? 

Monday  was  devoted,  of  course,  to  the  weekly 
washing,  and  nothing  must  interfere  with  that. 

Tuesday  was  the  great  day  for  the  making  of  pies, 
of  which  there  were  from  thirty  to  fifty  baked  in  the 
great  oven  that  crackled  and  roared  right  merrily  in 
anticipation  of  the  rich  medley  that  was  being  made 
ready  for  its  capacious  maw.  Two  kinds  of  apple 
pies,  two  of  pumpkin,  rice,  and  cranberry  made  out 
the  standard  list,  to  which  additions  were  sometimes 
made.  Then  in  our  younger  days  we  children  each 
had  a  patty  of  his  own.  These  were  made  in  tins  of 
various  shapes,  of  which  we  had  our  choice,  as  well 
of  the  material  of  which  our  respective  pies  should 
be  composed  The  provident  among  us  would  put 
these  aside  until  the  good  things  were  not  quite  so 
abundant. 

Was  not  that  a  breath  equal  to  the  '  spicy  breezes 
of  Ceylon  '  that  greeted  us  as  the  mouth  of  the  oven 
was  taken  down,  and  the  savor  of  its  rich  compounds 
penetrated  every  crevice  of  the  old  kitchen,  like  sacri- 
ficial incense  ?  Then,  as  the  pies  were  taken  out 
and  landed  on  the  brick  hearth,  and  a  number  of 
pairs  of  eyes  were  watching  the  proceedings  with  the 
keenest  interest,  it  would  not  be  strange  if  pies  and 
eyes  sometimes  got   mixed  ujj.       I  remember  once 


LATER    LIFE    IN    THE    OLD    MANSION.  Ill 

quite  a  sensation  was  produced  in  the  little  crowd 
because  brother  T.  lost  his  balance,  and,  for  want  of 
a  chair  to  break  his  fall,  sat  down  on  one  of  the 
smoking  hot  pies  ! 

After  cooling'  and  sorting,  the  precious  delicacies 
were  put  away  into  the  large  closets  in  the  front 
entry  or  hall,  which  the  foot  of  the  small  boy  was 
not  permitted  to  profane. 

Wednesday  was  devoted  to  chicken  pies  and  raised 
cake.  The  making  of  the  latter  was  a  critical  opera- 
tion. If  I  mistake  not,  it  was  begun  on  Monday.  I 
believe  the  conditions  must  be  quite  exact  to  have 
the  yeast  perform  its  work  perfectly  in  the  rich 
conglomerated  mass.  In  due  time  the  cake  is  fin- 
ished. The  chicken  pies  are  kept  in  the  oven,  so  as 
to  have  them  still  hot  for  supper.  The  two  tur- 
keys have  been  made  ready  for  the  spit,  the  kitchen 
cleared  of  every  vestige  of  the  great  carnival  that 
has  reigned  for  the  last  two  days,  and  there  is  a 
profound  pause  of  an  hour  or  two  before  the  scene 
opens. 

The  happy  meetings,  the  loaded  tables,  the  hilar- 
ity and  good  cheer  that  prevailed,  checked  but  not 
subdued  in  after  years  as  one  and  another  of  the 
seats  are  made  vacant  by  their  departure  to  the 
better  land,  —  these  are  things  to  be  imagined,  but 
cannot  be  described.  Warner,  in  his  '  Being  a  Boy,' 
says  that  the  hilarity  of  the  day  is  interfered  with 
by  going  to  meeting  and  wearing  Sunday  clothes ; 
but  our  parents  managed  that  wisely  by  dividing 


112  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

the  day,  the  first  half  o£  it  bemg-  kept  rehgiously, 
but  the  afternoon  being  given  up  to  festivity,  —  by 
no  means,  however,  common  week-day  work.  This 
was  wise,  I  say,  because  it  would  be  almost  cruel  to 
allow  a  lot  of  young  people  to  indulge  themselves  to 
the  very  extent  of  prudence,  to  say  the  least,  in 
eating,  and  then  sit  down  to  reading  good  books. 
This  distinction  between  relaxation  and  toil  for  pelf 
is,  I  think,  too  often  forgotten  nowadays,  founded 
as  it  is  on  both  religion  and  pliilosophy.  I  remem- 
ber w  ell  the  sad  look  mother  gave  my  brother  and 
myself  after  our  having  spent  the  afternoon  in 
making  a  hen-house,  a  very  'cute  operation,  we 
thought,  but  which  found  no  favor  in  her  eyes,  as 
contrary  to  the  traditions  of  the  forefathers. 

But  the  day  after  Thanksgiving,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted, had  its  pecuHar  pleasures.  I  doubt  if  there 
was  any  other  of  the  hoHdays  of  the  year  when  we 
boys  felt  so  strongly  the  sense  of  freedom,  and  it 
was  all  the  sweeter  because  it  was  the  last  we  should 
have  before  we  were  set  to  our  winter  tasks.  Skat- 
ing was  pretty  sure  to  be  one  of  the  sports,  if  the 
weather  had  been  cold  enouo-h  to  make  the  ice 
strong ;  and  indoors  there  remained  for  our  keen 
appetite  the  broken  bits  of  pie  and  cake,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  remnants  of  the  turkey  and  fowl  of 
the  day  before,  and  which  were  enjoyed  with  a 
keener  reUsh,  if  possible,  than  at  first. 

I  forgot  in  its  more  appropriate  place  to  speak  of 
the  roasting  of  the  turkey.     This  was  done  in  a  tin 


LATER  LIFE  IN  THE  OLD  MANSION.     113 

oven  with  an  iron  rod  running  through  it,  and  also 
through  the  meat  that  was  to  be  cooked.  This  was 
the  spit.  The  meat  was  fastened  to  the  spit  with 
skewers,  so  that,  by  means  of  a  small  crank  at  the 
end,  it  could  be  made  to  revolve  in  order  to  cook 
evenly.  The  oven  was  in  shape  something  like  a 
half  cylinder,  with  the  open  side  to  face  the  fire. 
But  there  was  a  still  more  primitive  way  of  roasting 
a  turkey,  and  one  which  was  resorted  to  sometimes 
when  our  family  was  the  largest.  Room  was  made 
at  one  end  of  the  fireplace,  and  the  turkey  was  sus- 
pended by  the  legs  from  the  ceiling,  Avhere  was 
a  contrivance  to  keep  the  string  turning,  and  of 
course  with  it  the  turkey.  On  the  hearth  was  a 
dish  to  catch  the  drippings,  and  with  them  the  meat 
was  occasionally  basted.  The  thing  is  accomplished 
much  more  easily  now,  but  at  an  expense,  I  imagine, 
in  the  quality  of  the  work. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  universality  of 
some  of  the  customs  that  were  in  vogue  fifty  and 
one  hundred  years  ago.  In  looking  over  the  Cen- 
tennial of  the  Churches  of  Connecticut,  I  came 
across  the  remark  that  the  festive  board,  so  crowded 
with  good  things  on  Thursday,  gradually  took  on  a 
plainer  and  less  profuse  array  of  dishes,  until  it 
ended  off  on  Saturday  evening  with  a  simple  bowl 
of  hasty  pudding  and  milk.  This  was  in  Revolu- 
tionary times ;  but  fifty  years  later,  when  I  was  a 
boy,  the  same  practices  prevailed  ;  in  fact,  hasty 
pudding  and  milk  was  the  standing  dish  for  Satur- 


114  UNDER    A    COLONIAL    EOOF-TREE. 

(lay  evening,  as  boiled  Indian  pudding  was  for  Sun- 
day's dinner.  I  have  been  reminded  since  reading 
this  item  of  a  couplet  my  brother  once  repeated  to 
me  when  we  were  boys  :  — 

'  For  we  know  Northampton's  rule  to  be 
Fried  hasty  pudding  'long  wi'  tea.' 

Expressive,  if  not  elegant,  and  it  shows  that  North- 
ampton, bating  the  slight  innovation  of  the  tea,  was 
true  to  New  England  tradition. 

The  Christmas  holidays,  as  they  are  now  ob- 
served, were  not  known  in  the  country  towns  then. 
New  Year's  presents  were  often  made,  and  the 
^  Happy  New  Year '  greeting  was  passed  when 
neighbors  met  each  other ;  but  with  most  })eople  we 
were  too  near  tlie  Puritan  age  to  hear  the  '  Merry 
Christmas '  so  connnon  to-day,  without  a  shock  as 
though  it  were  a  profanation. 

But  our  mother  seemed  to  be  a  kind  of  seer  in 
this,  as  in  some  other  things ;  and  before  the  chil- 
dren were  too  old,  St.  Nicholas  Avas  a  well-known 
personage,  and  the  hanging  of  the  stocking  in  a 
veritable  chimney  never  proved  an  idle  ceremony. 
The  only  legend  she  ever  related  to  me  that  I 
remember  concerning  the  birth  of  Christ  was,  that 
at  midnight  all  the  cattle  in  the  yards  or  fields 
miirht  be  seen  kneeliu";  with  their  heads  turned  to 
the  east  in  adoration  of  the  wonderful  Being  who 
made  a  manger  his  cradle,  as  if  in  dumb  worshi}) 
they  sought  a  reverential  though  it  might  be  distant 


LATER    LIFE    IN    THE    OLD    MANSION.  115 

kinship  to  One  who  stooped  so  nearly  to  their  hum- 
ble condition.  I  remember  the  charm  that  with  me 
attached  to  the  story,  and  the  unwillingness  with 
which  I  gave  up  the  illusion  when  she  once  told  us 
that,  in  her  eagerness  to  see  for  herself,  she  broke 
the  charm  by  sitting  up  one  Christmas  eve  with  a 
companion  until  the  spell-bound  hour,  and  visiting 
the  cattle-yard  of  her  father.  Is  it  not  sad  that 
one's  faith  should  receive  such  rude  shocks,  even 
before  its  bounds  are  reached !  For  myself,  I  can 
only  say  that  though  since  then  I  have  cherished 
many  a  vision  within  the  bounds  of  possibility,  only 
to  have  it  marred  by  the  stern  realities  of  life,  there 
is  none  perhaps  that  I  have  given  up  more  reluc- 
tantly than  this  sweet,  simple  legend  of  the  dumb 
cattle  kneelino-  in  honor  of  the  babe  of  Bethlehem." 

The  mainspring  of  such  a  family  life  was  the 
mother.  We  have  seen  what  she  was  in  the  bloom 
of  youth,  when  her  high  order  of  mind  and  character 
attracted  the  admiration  of  President  Dwight,  and 
through  him  of  her  future  husband.  The  promise 
of  early  womanhood  Avas  more  than  fulfilled  in 
maturity. 

Of  the  three  Elizabeths  in  direct  succession,  one 
passed  nearly  half  a  century,  the  others  more  than 
that  period,  in  the  old  homestead.  All  were  carried 
over  its  threshold  to  their  last  resting-place  in  the 
village  graveyard.  The  first,  made  a  widow  by 
early  and  sudden  bereavement,  lived  ever  after  in 
its  shadow.     She  instilled    in    her  only   child   that 


11(3  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

stern  sense  of  duty,  that  clear  discernment  between 
good  and  evil,  that  unwavering  faith  in  a  righteous 
Rider,  which  she  had  inherited  from  her  forefathers. 

Her  own  grief  seems  not  to  have  interfered  with 
those  obligations  of  hospitahty  and  kinship  which 
her  position  involved. 

In  her  daughter,  the  austerity  of  a  rigid  creed 
was  softened  by  a  strong  devotional  spiiit,  a  large- 
hearted  humanity,  a  buoyancy  and  hopefulness  of 
disiDOsition. 

With  the  third  EHzabeth  the  same  Puritan  auster- 
ity was  perhaps  accentuated  by  the  inheritance  of 
reserve  and  stern  decision  which  came  from  her 
father's  family.  Mingled  with  tliis  was  a  suscepti- 
bihty  and  a  self-depreciation  inclined  to  melancholy. 
Hers  was  a  nature  resiDondlng  quickly  to  all  that 
was  noble,  easily  depressed  by  anything  false,  tender 
and  generous  in  its  sympathies,  severe  and  relentless 
in  self-condemnation.  An  uncompromising  moral 
sense,  joined  with  the  scrupulous  Puritan  conscience, 
led  her  to  seek  the  attainment  of  the  hiohest  stand- 
ard  in  herself  and  her  family.  A  large  benevolence 
made  her  lenient  and  pitiful  towards  the  sinful  and 
the  suffering. 

Her  deep  affection  for  her  children,  and  her  in- 
tense concern  for  their  spiiitual  welfare,  is  apparent 
in  her  private  writings. 

The  journal  which  she  kejDt  most  of  her  life  is 
almost  entirely  a  record  of  her  private  feelings, 
prayers,  and  heart-searchings.     It  begins  in  her  girl- 


THE    FAMILY  BURIAL-PLACE 


LATER    LIFE    IN    THE    OLD    MANSION.  117 

hood  with  a  solemn  covenant  which  was  renewed 
every  year.  With  the  birth  o£  her  children  their 
names  are  continually  repeated,  and  solicitude  for 
their  spiritual  welfare  occupies  her  more  and  more. 

"  Her  whole  journal  was  studded  with  prayers,  as 
the  heavens  are  with  stars.  It  seems  sometimes  in 
reading  it  as  if  the  mere  mention  of  one  of  our 
names  was  enough  to  kindle  into  flame  the  hidden 
lire  that  ever  lived  within  her  breast. 

It  is  no  small  privilege  to  be  able  to  call  such  a 
woman  mother.  I  think,  next  to  our  great  Advo- 
cate who  is  ever  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father  to 
make  intercession  for  us,  in  persistence  and  in  power 
are  the  prayers  of  those  who  gave  me  birth,  and  I 
should  not  dare  to  say  how  far  they  may  not  reach, 
or  the  favors  they  may  not  secure. 

I  can  only  compare  our  mother  to  some  faithful 
soldier  to  whom  is  committed  the  task  of  bringing 
the  household  of  a  king  from  a  distant  province 
through  an  unfriendly  country  to  the  capital  of  the 
empire,  whose  loyalty  and  devotion  were  so  ardent 
that  he  would  gladly  give  up  his  own  life  rather  than 
that  of  those  intrusted  to  his  care  should  be  lost. 
But  she  was  not  content  with  this  :  she  would  lay 
hold  of  those  by  the  wayside,  and,  by  the  sweet 
compulsion  of  her  prayers,  compel  them  to  be  her 
allies  and  escorts. 

If  we  speak  of  vigilance,  persistence,  or  fertility 
of  resource,  of  courage  and  endurance,  Stanley's 
famous  march  through  the  African  wilderness  to  the 


118  UXDER    A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

ocean  was  as  much  inferior  to  it  as  earth  to  heaven  ; 
and  as  she  saw  one  after  another  enter  the  palace 
portals  and  vanish  from  her  sight,  she  could  say 
through  hhnding  tears,  '  Father,  I  thank  thee.'  " 

Any  chronicle  of  early  New  England  Hfe  would 
be  incomplete  without  taking  note  of  a  great  reli- 
gious change  which  passed  over  it  during  the  first 
quarter  of  the  present  century.  That  its  influence 
was  felt  even  in  a  lonely  farmhouse,  by  a  woman  of 
such  intense  character  as  Elizabeth  H.,  is  not  remark- 
able. While  her  husband,  through  his  ministerial 
associations,  realized  the  quickening  imjjulse  of  freer 
thought,  she  also  in  her  spiritual  communings  sought 
for  guidance  in  a  gospel  which  preached  love  to 
man  as  well  as  love  to  God. 

From  the  pulpit  under  which  she  had  sat  since 
childhood,  there  were  weekly  outpourings  of  anath- 
ema, fiery  denunciations  of  the  unconverted,  dog- 
matic   dissertations    on    the    riohteousness    of    the 

o 

Almighty.  But  the  story  of  the  Reconciliation,  of 
Him  who  became  man  for  the  sake  of  his  brothers, 
was  lost  sight  of. 

The  old  Puritan  faith  had  been  grand  in  its  un- 
hesitating belief  in  a  Ruler  and  Lawgiver,  with  the 
sense  of  personaUty  which  upheld  the  conscience  in 
responsibility  to  its  Maker.  The  later  teachings  from 
the  lips  of  New  England  divines  obscured  this  sim- 
ple and  direct  creed  by  constantly  dwelling  on  hu- 
man depravity  and  the  doctrines  of  a  theological 
system  which  seemed  to  fetter  the  will  itself.     The 


LATER   LIFE    IN    THE    OLD    MANSION.  119 

vileness  of  the  creature  was  indeed  depicted  with  a 
view  to  exalt  the  majesty  and  sovereignty  of  God ; 
the  certain  damnation  of  the  wicked  was  a  theme 
intended  to  enhance  the  future  blessedness  of  the 
elect.  But  there  were  those  whose  love  for  God  was 
best  satisfied  in  performing  deeds  of  mercy  and  char- 
ity towards  man,  and  whose  conception  of  salvation 
was  not  that  of  personal  security.  To  such  the  ter- 
rors of  judgment  appealed  little  ;  trust  in  Heavenly 
Love  was  the  mainspring  of  life.  They  longed  to 
help  the  suffering,  to  break  the  chains  of  the  slave, 
to  bring  peace  and  order  to  a  distracted  world. 

The  era  of  religious  enthusiasm  in  which  so  many 
New  England  churches  broke  from  the  bondage  of 
Calvinism  was  a  period  of  activity  in  the  cause  of 
humanity.  Here  EHzabeth  found  her  happiness 
and  delight.  The  anti-slavery  movement  was  to  her 
more  than  sentiment.  As  a  practical  proof  of  her 
interest  in  the  African  race,  she  took  a  little  black 
boy,  not  only  under  her  care,  but  into  her  own 
sleeping-room. 

She  eagerly  read  and  distributed  the  pubUcations 
of  the  Peace  Society.  The  beginning  of  the  tem- 
perance agitation  engaged  her  ardent  sympathy. 

When  the  change  of  view  of  so  conspicuous  a 
member  of  the  Hadley  congregation  became  known, 
she  was  subjected  to  rigid  inquiry  by  the  deacons. 
After  many  visits  and  repeated  interrogations  she 
was  judged  guilty  of  heresy,  and  her  name  stricken 
from  the  list  of  church  members. 


120  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

This  exclusion  from  the  table  where  her  father 
and  mother  had  communed  could  not  fail  to  be  a 
grief  to  one  of  so  sensitive  and  conscientious  a  dis- 
position. Her  husband,  as  a  clergyman,  was  under 
no  such  jurisdiction.  Although  often  occu}3ying 
pulpits  in  the  neighborhood,  where  a  more  liberal 
creed  had  been  adopted,  he  at  other  times  accom- 
panied his  wife  to  the  place  of  worship  in  North- 
ampton which  she  continued  to  attend  during  the 
remainder  of  her  life.  Sorely  as  he  and  her  children 
resented  the  unnecessary  persecution  of  so  good  and 
noble  a  woman,  they  regarded  it  as  the  unhappy 
outcome  of  a  perverted  ecclesiasticism.  In  later 
years  they  returned  to  their  old  place  in  the  village 
meeting,  knowing  that  in  spite  of  differences  they 
were  made  welcome. 

To  the  little  library  over  the  old  porch,  w^here 
the  ancient  volumes  of  Edwards,  Wigglesworth,  and 
other  stern  theologians  long  stood  alone,  new  ser- 
mons and  essays  now  found  their  way.  Channing 
and  Martineau,  Ware  and  Dewey,  were  widely  read 
in  the  awakening  of  new  ideas. 

The  movement  which  they  represented  has  passed 
away,  like  that  form  of  Puritanism  which  preceded 
it.  There  is  no  "  Brimstone  Corner  "  now  left  in 
Boston,  neither  is  there  any  society  of  rehgious 
teaching  such  as  that  of  fifty  years  ago.  Many  of 
its  followers  returned  to  the  mother  church  in  which 
their  English  forefathers  had  been  baptized ;  some 
joined  the  Roman  communion ;  many  have  formed 
what  are  known  as  Liberal  denominations. 


LATER    LIFE    IN    THE    OLD    MANSION.  121 

As  a  phase  of  reverent  religious  belief,  Scriptural 
in  its  foundation,  broad  and  tender  in  its  sympa- 
thies, elevating  in  its  influence,  the  present  genera- 
tion owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  school  of  Chan- 
ning  and  his  contemporaries.  It  distinctly  inherited 
much  that  was  noble  in  Puritanism.  Its  traces  are 
seen  in  New  England  Kterature,  in  its  philanthropy, 
in  its  morality,  in  its  social  teaching.  It  may  yet 
prove  to  have  been  the  doorway  into  a  Universal 
Church,  and  a  step  towards  the  reahzation  of  a  true 
Brotherhood  of  Man. 

The  third  Ehzabeth  lived  to  see  her  grandchil- 
dren growing  up  around  her.  She  passed  from 
earth  on  one  of  those  fast  days  which  she  kept 
so  strictly,  the  anniversary  of  her  youthful  self- 
dedication. 

Her  husband,  who  Hved  to  the  age  of  ninety- 
one,  retaining  to  the  last  his  genial  disposition  and 
kindly  interest  in  all  around  him,  wrote  an  account 
of  his  wife  when  past  his  eightieth  birthday. 

He  says,  speaking  of  her  later  years :  — 

"  She  was  continually  seeking  out  the  poor,  the 
ignorant,  the  vicious  and  unhappy,  in  her  district, 
and  devising  modest  and  efficient  plans  for  their 
oood.  The  latest  desig-ns  she  formed  were  for  the 
moral  and  religious  instruction  of  some  destitute  and 
colored  children ;  and  the  last  toil  of  her  enfeebled 
hands  was  spent  in  preparing  some  article  of  com- 
fort for  an  orphan. 

Her  final  illness  was  painful,  and  continued  more 


122  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

than  a  year.  Her  confidence  in  the  Father's  love 
was  perfectly  undisturbed.  Her  accustomed  piety 
Avas  too  deep  and  too  sincere  to  gliiiinier  into  any 
unnatural  transports.  Her  strongest  desire  to  be 
released  from  the  agony  of  her  disorder  was  uttered, 
after  a  weary  night,  in  the  words  of  the  patriarch, 
^  Let  me  go,  for  the  day  breaketh.'  Reminded  of 
the  loved  ones  who  had  gone  before  her,  she  re- 
plied, ^  Oh  yes  !  I  shall  look  them  all  up.' 

Her  mental  powers  and  accomplishments  were  of 
a  high  order.  She  had  a  rare  ability  in  stamping 
her  ideas  on  other  minds.  Through  all  her  busy 
life,  crowded  with  the  cares  of  training  eleven  chil- 
dren, besides  many  voluntary  engagements,  she 
maintained  a  daily  habit  of  reading  the  best  books. 
She  sang  in  an  excellent,  musical  voice,  and  occa- 
sionally accompanied  herself  on  the  guitar. 

One  of  the  great  privileges  of  her  children  was  to 
gather  about  her,  and  hear  her  sing  sacred  songs  on 
Sunday  evenings,  chief  of  which  was  the  Bethlehem 
hymn,  beginning',  — 

'  When  marshaled  on  the  nightly  plain, 
The  glittering  host  bestud  the  sky.' 

But,  vigorous  and  active  as  her  intellect  was,  her 
chief  glory  was  her  large  and  holy  heart.  She 
loved  righteousness  and  truth  better  than  any  creed 
or  sect.  She  loved  those  her  Heavenly  Father  per- 
mitted her  to  call  her  own  with  a  constancy  and 
tenderness  that  no  language  can  represent.      She 


LATER   LIFE    IN    THE    OLD    MANSION.  123 

loved  the  Lord  her  God  with  all  her  soul ;  she  loved 
her  neio'hbor  as  herself. 

In  the  family  life  of  that  time,  the  old  home 
received  a  new  name.  Some  letters  of  the  daugh- 
ters to  their  school  friends  are  dated,  playfully, 
"  Vallee  Douce,"  but  as  "  Ehn  Valley  "  it  has  been 
known  to  the  descendants  ever  since. 

Nearly  a  century  and  a  half  have  passed  since 
Moses  Porter  raised  the  roof-tree.  Before  his  occu- 
pancy only  the  cattle  of  the  colonist  or  the  foot  of 
the  red  man  trod  its  soil.  Since  he  first  tilled  the 
fields,  his  title  with  that  of  his  grandchildi-en  and 
great-grandchildren  has  been  maintained  by  that 
only  which  is  of  true  value,  —  the  use  and  develop- 
ment of  its  resources.  Only  what  is  of  direct  bene- 
fit to  the  community  has  been  cultivated  on  its 
fertile  acres,  and  the  wild  woodland  has  been  left 
in  all  its  beauty. 

Another  family  mansion,  dear  also  from  associa- 
tion, stands  on  part  of  the  original  estate,  which  has 
gradually  been  divided  and  subdivided. 

The  ancient  home  has  seen  many  come  and  go. 
From  the  little  child  who  last  toddled  over  its  door- 
w^ay,  back  to  the  first  of  the  line  who  crossed  the 
threshold,  eight  generations  may  be  counted.  Could 
the  old  walls  repeat  the  story  of  the  life  passed 
within  them,  it  would  be  a  record  of  simple  habits, 
homely  toil,  godly  conversation,  gentle  manners. 

Nane  of  those  who  lived  there  desired  greatly  the 
world's  riches,  or  the  world's  applause.     They  were 


124  UNDER   A    COLONIAL    ROOF-TREE. 

content  to  serve  their  neighbors  and  the  commu- 
nity with  the  same  spirit  in  which  their  forefathers 
founded  the  new  country.  They  have  bequeathed 
to  those  who  come  after  the  best  birthright,  —  an 
example  of  loyalty  and  \4rtue  which  it  is  in  the 
power  of  each  one  to  imitate. 


APPENDIX. 

An  especial  purpose  of  the  foregoing  collection  was  to 
preserve  the  descriptions  of  life  in  his  boyhood,  taken 
from  letters  of  the  late  Theodore  G.  Huntington.  Not 
long  before  his  death  in  1875,  he  wrote  out  these  remini- 
scences for  his  niece,  Mrs.  Josiah  P.  Quincy,  by  whose 
permission  they  are  published. 

The  third  Elizabeth  married  Rev.  Dan  Huntington, 
who  was  born  in  Lebanon,  Connecticut,  October  11, 
1774. 

Their  children  were  Charles  Phelps,  Elizabeth  Porter, 
William  Pitkin,  Bethia  Throop,  Edward  Phelps,  John 
Whiting,  Theophilus  Parsons,  Theodore  Gregson,  Mary 
Dwight,  Catherine  Carey,  Frederic  Dan.  The  youngest 
was  born  at  the  old  homestead  in  Hadley,  Massachusetts, 
May  28, 1819.  His  affection  for  the  place  led  him  to  pur- 
chase it  of  the  other  heirs  after  his  father's  death,  and  it 
was  thenceforward  his  summer  home  until  he  passed  away 
peacefully  under  its  roof  on  the  afternoon  of  July  11, 1904. 
His  mortal  body  rests  in  the  Hadley  Cemetery,  in  the  en- 
closure where  are  laid  his  parents,  three  sisters,  and  two 
brothers.  On  the  tablet  which  he  himself  erected  to  their 
memory  is  inscribed,  in  conformity  with  theirs,  simply  his 
name  and  age,  eighty-five  years ;  and  beneath,  his  title, 
First  Bishop  of  Central  New  York. 

The  residence  still  known  as  Pine  Grove,  but  for  many 
years  also  as  the  Phelps  mansion,  was  built  on  the  south- 
ern portion  of  the  estate  in  1816,  by  the  only  son  of 
Charles  Phelps,  Charles  Porter  Phelps.  He  removed  his 
family  from  Boston  the  following  year,  and  settled  for  the 


126  APPENDIX. 

remainder  of  liis  life  in  his  native  place,  where  he  held  a 
high  reputation  as  an  upright  and  honorable  lawyer  and  a 
public  spirited  representative.  The  house  is  now  occupied 
by  descendants  of  Bishop  Huntington. 

The  facts  relating  to  the  early  history  of  New  Hamp- 
shire are  taken  from  the  "  Phelps  Memorial,"  prepared 
for  his  grandchildren  by  the  late  John  Phelps,  whose  wife, 
Mrs.  Almira  Lincoln  Phelps,  was  well  known  through  her 
writings  on  science  and  education. 

An  interesting  circumstance  connected  with  the  Porter 
family  is  the  history  of  their  ancestor,  Major  Aaron 
Cooke,  whose  handsome  monument  in  the  Northampton 
Cemetery  was  erected  by  the  father  of  the  late  Josiah 
Parsons  Cooke,  of  Harvard  University,  a  lineal  descen- 
dant. 

Aaron  Cooke  landed  in  Dorchester  at  the  age  of  twenty, 
became  one  of  the  noble  Colonists  at  Windsor,  Connecti- 
cut, and  removed  later  to  Northampton,  Massachusetts, 
with  his  Pastor,  Rev.  Eleazer  Mather,  at  the  latter's  ex- 
press request.  He  was  a  famous  wolf-slayer,  a  brave 
officer,  and,  although  a  strong  friend  of  the  Regicide 
Judges,  he  received  under  Governor  Andros  the  highest 
military  rank  in  the  Colony. 

In  his  last  Testament  he  divides  between  his  sons  his 
staff  and  sword,  his  military  equipment  and  library  ;  be- 
queathes to  a  grandson  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land 
and  a  Bible ;  to  a  granddaughter  a  cow  and  a  Bible,  and 
further  provides :  "  It  is  my  will  that  a  silver  bowl  be 
bought  and  given  to  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Northamp- 
ton, if  continuing  in  the  Congregational  way.  I  say  a 
bowl  of  six  pounds  price." 

Major  Cooke  married  a  connection  of  William  P3'^nchon 
of  Springfield.  His  son  Aaron  married  Sarah  Westwood, 
whose  father  William  was  an  influential  member  of  the 


APPENDIX.  127 

Windsor  Colony.  They  were  the  first  man  and  wife  mar- 
ried in  the  town  of  Hadley,  and  their  daughter  Joanna 
married  Samuel  Porter,  who  was  the  first  male  child  born 
in  Hadley.  A  grandson  of  this  couijle  was  Moses  Porter, 
who  first  set  up  the  Colonial  Roof-tree  in  September, 
1753. 


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